Tal

~Megaphone

Just kidding.

This is a great resource and inspires me anew. Thanks Andrei

On a base level rBGH makes cows produce milk that is “materially different” than regular milk. I’ve heard it described as essentially increasing milk production, (while causing a marked increase in the stress on the animal and statistically lessening its lifespan) by having the animal create something akin to more “puss” that mixes into the milk.

As it is 3 major Oregon companies known for their dairy products discontinued the use of rBGH last year. These are Alpenrose Dairy (sold at Albertson’s, Thriftway, New Seasons, QFC, Zupan’s and other stores. It also supplies milk to Baskin-Robbins ice cream franchises in the Pacific Northwest), the famous Tillamook County Creamery Association and Eberhard’s Dairy also stopped the use of Monsanto’s Posilac (rBGH) last year.

Some controversial side effects associated with rBGH; enough that it has been banned in Canada and most of Europe? Premature growth in infants, and breast growth in children, with increased risk of breast and colon cancer in adults.

I don’t have much faith in this. Just look at history. When the Savings and Loan were deregulated (a word I now deem synonomous with theft) and then collapsed in the 1980′s it ammounted to a 1.4 Trillion dollar tax payer cost, of which we are still paying. Congress allowed deregulation that let S&L owners to lend money to themselves! This was the biggest ripoff, perhaps, in the history of the world. Of the few S&L perpetrators who went to jail, they were given 1/5 of the jail time of an average bank robber… Neil Bush didn’t do a lick of time for his part in the destruction of his S&L.

As a side note, the president (probably on his way out) could give Ken Lay and Jeffery Skiilling a presidential pardon (they certainly have good administration connections) .

I like the part where she (presumably Elizabeth Dole) says that she may never again offer a ‘complimentary’ (with a purchase of a $2500 a plate dinner with the President) Republican Senatorial Inner Circle membership, but for the fact that this is a critical election year and possibly a turning point for the party….

It will not be “covered”, at least acurately, by mainstream television either. We need Pirate Televsion.

Thanks for coming Andrei. I have discovered that Kyiv sandstorms can be different too namely because of your visit

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’.
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’.
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin’.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.

Thanks for your comments, interest and support. I will keep you posted on how things develop with my young heroes. They have a special place in my heart. A friend who is a young film maker has expressed some interest and I will be talking more with him about it.

Zoe, you can see some of my work online at http://www.laurencemcnamara.com

Thanks for sharing the story about John, Andre. It made me smile.

Awsome.

Awwww!!!!

So sweet. You two are an inspiration!

Your post was very uplifting, and got me very interested in the students you mention. It’s nice to know that somewhere out there, these sorts of things are happening.

I’ll be eager to hear more about them, and hope you find a documentarian to film them (I’d suggest trying some local universities).

V. =)

I always thought that those kids (some of them my age peers) did more for me than I did for them. I always felt so valued and appreciated even for the smallest things. I think that part of how they suffered was being isolated from the rest of the school population and I remember how much they loved to exchange greetings outside of our classroom time together – when we passed in the halls or at school dances.

I think your idea really goes to the heart of what it is to feel good as a human – no matter what your level of functioning, IQ, abilities, etc. The feeling of being useful to your fellow man or woman is so powerful and transformative. The feeling of being connected to others through service or even by bringing a smile to someone else’s face.

I will never forget John who was in this class I was the aid for. It was very important for John to feel cool. He had developed quite the strut, he wore a leather jacket equipped with the bandanas of a rocker of the 1984 Van Halen type. He wore dark shades and sported a huge smile. When he saw you in the hall he raised his hand as high as he could and gave the most well developed and well aimed high fives I have yet to encounter. It always made me laugh and after each high five he would say “Awesome!” and keep moving down the hall.

Thanks for the story Laurence – I hope you have a lot of luck finding someone to work on this documentary. I would love to hear how this progresses.

Also, thought you were seeing Aida?

Pantha – I aint crying baby – I’m in Ukraine – I think someone might beat me up if I cried. Hey theres an idea – since you cry all the time maybe you chould move here. Ooooo faced dude totally faced!

oh and “you are a cry baby”

V. =)

The depression-era Americans are gone. I don’t give a shit if anyone disagrees with me: if you haven’t had some major adversity in your life, you haven’t ‘felt’ life. People who have not looked into the abyss really aren’t in touch with their soul.

We’ve never had so much potential for human evolution in terms of curing disease, increasing the fluidity of communication, FEEDING people and just improving the quality of life for almost everyone.

Perhaps a HUGE pop would bring about a leader or group of leaders that not only would have a message of change – but a HIGHLY motivated audience. That second part is what is missing now.

My heart goes out to you guys. HAng in there, curl up with the kitties and let time sort it out. We are sending our love your way.

It’s so sad that large corporations can squeeze out (or in your case, squeeze back in) the little guy – even when they’re clearly in the wrong – just because they have relatively unlimited funds. Take a lot of deep breaths, try to be thankful none of you were hurt, and I’ll keep you in my thoughts.

And yes, we have renter’s insurance. Just got it last year!

Werewolves are bad. We dont want werewolves and should pass legislation to seriously ban werewolves and other human animal hybrids like chuds, birdmen, people like Kevin Costner in Water World where he had webbed toes and gills behind his ears. I am also against the blob, invasions of body snatching aliens, and space predators coming down to hunt humans for their skulls.

Thank god I have this president to focus on this stuff because if we had a more relaxed president, a milk toast president, we might have werewolves any day now.

while i do think we are on the edge of many scientific cliffs where we can be faced with our lack of wisdom and incredible progress in discovery come to fruition in disasters, I also feel like this is not dissimilar to talking about travel to mars. We have serious immediate problems at hand. Does anyone here notice the flames being fanned in Iran, in N. Korea? I mean today the words, “dont look and it wont hurt” actually popped into my head.

Ahhhhhh! Dont think about that. Think about the werewolves. I am safe from them. Safe, I am safe, I am safe. (rocking in the corner) I am safe…

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/

You’re right.

I see this trend everywhere.

Just last night I witnessed the power of the HOA board in my building which controls where our dues are going even if the services are not rendered as promised. This is so frustrating. Getting things to change within our own HOA isn’t as easy as it should be. On a larger scale it’s even more difficult to have an effect on city, corporate, national and international politics.

Our generation is the complacent generation. I feel like the ‘collective conscious’ of the American people is to just accept things for what they are whether it’s right or wrong. There are more people who don’t give a damn than those who do.

Where are the hippies of today who are protesting the war in Iraq? They are on-line chatting about issues in Blogs. What this Nation needs is a revolution. Those people who do give a damn need to unite and to make it clear that they have the collective authority and power to create change. Those people need to stand up and allow their collective intelligence and awareness deter corporations and American politics from further damage.

Here’s a fine example of what I mean. Check out http://www.freedomtotinker.com This blog is hosted by two brilliant Princeton professors how have used the power of the Blog and Intelligence to bring a massive Corporation like Sony to its knees. If you’ve been following the story you know that it all started when these guys started evaluating what Sony’s Digital Rights Management (DRM) software was doing to the computers of consumers… Horrifying!

The point is why do people settle for less? Because they haven’t experienced better, don’t see the benefits or simply don’t know. Sadly most people just don’t care.

Recently I hired painters to paint the interior walls of my home. The walls needed some work and there were numerous holes from plastic anchors that were removed. The painters spoke English perfectly however when I asked if they could patch up the holes and make the wall appear like there was never a hole there – they said “no problem”. Furthermore I pointed to an area of the wall which looked perfect and said “will it look like this?”. They said “yes”. It didn’t work out. I quickly learned that my standards are much higher than their’s. They were perfectly pleased with their results and trust me – it was no where near what I was hoping for.

This experience can be applied to just about anything in life. Those of us who want a better World to live in have to remember that most people just don’t care and that those who are in power are sadly corrupted by financial hypnosis.

// Rant Off…

Never mind that the Christmas holiday was stolen from Pagan ritual and this time of the year is celebrated in myraid ways, for all kinds of different reasons, be they Christian or specifically not.

beta seven torchlight…

index strobscopic…

distribution murder transparent transparency

(the sound of a record scratching, the needle stuck at the edge…)

archive
caption antenatal

glasshouse mistral

profile situation,

“mark it zero dude…”

i’m obsessed with these things, and i could listen to them all night. yeah, i don’t understand how Wilco could have been sued for using a sample from these great pieces. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Those who create the messages do seem to appreciate their “mystique”, and use interesting voices and music to identify and color their broadcasts. Some of the voices used are synthesized.

Whether the broadcasts are used for anything else, they are defiantly used to send information to intelligence agents in the field, or to at least give the appearance that messages are being sent to agents in the field. They utilize the only form of encryption that can mathematically be proven to be unbreakable, called one time pad encryption. No matter how many supercomputers or aeons you have to try and crack the code, you won’t be able to. Their only vulnerability is if you get your hands on the “pad” used to decrypt the numbers.

That there is anyone out there who would claim ownership of these broadcasts seems pretty lame. They’re obviously not meant to generate any kind of revenue or brand recognition.

The progression of the Goldberg yearly photos is a superb link–and surely a reminder of how short life is in it’s eternities.

Swartzenegger–what an idiot…

It always seems such a struggle (in the USA) to get the UNITY in organization you experienced during the ORANGE REVOLUTION–I admire your resolve and your hard work, a journey that continues. You still have your heart and soul in it–a worthy example and inspiration for us all.

TAK!

I love it! The photos, the links all of it! Great stuff! I really enjoyed the Goldberg’s link – very inpsiring and touching. I also enjoyed seeing the Govenor doing what he’s famous for… Do you remember all the allegations regarding him harassing women after he was elected into office… Well – it’s on film… He’s not affraid to get up close and personal.

I can’t wait to see the Prez drunk at a party…

Best,
est.

Below is a blog I published a little less than a year ago when I came to vist your fair city just before the President was sworn in. TAK!!!

Ahhh Kyiv
Sunday January 16th 2005, 7:51 am Edit This
Filed under: General
Written By: andrei
As we came in for a landing I saw some of the outlying area. Fields, some used some neglected dotted with houses and trees. Some houses brightly painted in leaded pastel colors � greens and rose colors. Other buildings abandoned and falling back into this long inhabited earth. There were long stretches of road lined with trees older than the buildings I saw. Everything was wet with winter rains.

When we landed we exited the plane on the tarmac and got on a shuttle that would take us to the terminal. There was a bit of a wait, but none of the agitation thatr would come with such a wait in the US. What were we waiting for � maybe a dozen things that did not go like clockwork, baggage being unloaded, airline crew members finishing up paperwork, a young couple with a new born. I think the father of the newborn was Irish but I did not hear the mother speak so I could not tell if she was as well. A few of us helped them get their things in the shuttle and away we went to the terminal building.

There to wait again in line to have our passports checked. Again the Irish man and his wife and baby came up after most of us had been in line a little bit. A large strong faced Ukrainian man told the family that they should not wait in line, they should go to the front. That this was a normal courtesy in the Ukraine. A woman and another man around him assured the family that this seemingly unbelievable act of consideration was indeed true and they happily went to the front of the line and were long gone before we even came close to our bags.

As we waited we caught site of several things about the Ukrainian people. One of the first was that the men here seemed more fully formed than the men in the US � they seem less filled with doubt and questioning. They force my knowledge of who these men are to the surface � more Ukrainians died in WWII than any other nationality � even Germany. The women also have this quality about them, but in the eyes of the Ukrainian women is stored the story of the hardship and the hopes of the people here. It is at once beautiful, ancient and like ice � not chilly � more like the ice on the edges of roves after a winter storm when the morning sun is caught there.

It was not long before this that we realized that for all of our preparations we had failed to arrange to be met at the airport. I shuffled through my bags to find some cell phone numbers. When we finally got through customs with our large cart full of luggage, we tunneled through a flood of people toward the outside world. Suddenly at the end of the tunnel we were assaulted by a mob of cabis all trying to win our business. Just when I was thinking � Oh my God this is going to get crazy � there was a sign that said Andrei Hedstrom and Mike Nathanson.

Ahhh Kyiv � you open your arms to embrace us. It was Yevgen, who we had been working with for some months but had never met. A small slender man from the region close to the Carpathian Mountains with a low and deep voice. He had come with a driver from the company we have been working with. We loaded up our luggage and streamed away through a light rain that turned to snow as we moved through the outlying neighborhoods of Kyiv.

I was struck by the masses of people out in this weather. Moving between massive residential high rises and along sidewalk tents that houses outrdoor restaurants, shops and bars. The further we went into the city, the older it got, until we were passing buildings that looked a hundred years old or so. Decorative fronts with balconies lined a wide cobblestone street with sidewalks almost as wide. A great open feeling exists in the Kyiv streets. Again, people everywhere and I was struck by how much the people here love to be outside � even in this weather.

We were blessed to find that they already expected to simply drop us off to get some sleep and then arranged to meet us for dinner that night. I threw open the window in my bedroom and climbed into bed. All of a minute might have passed before the cold air and the sound of Kiev sent me to sleep. Ahhh Kiev.

Several hours later Mike woke me to say that Yevgen and Roman were on their way to take us to dinner. A word about Roman. This blog is already too long to go into detail about him so I will do that later, but suffice it to say � he is everything want would want to have in a business associate, a friend or a brother. He and I have formed a strong bond over the last few years of doing business together.

Yevgen and Roman brought us to a local Ukrainian restaurant serving traditional food. As we waited for Roman�s wife Ira (pronounced Yeara) we snacked on pickles, pickled cabbage, pickled tomatoes, breads, horseradish and mustards and sallow (salted Ukrainian pork). We drank a smoked stone fruit juice � tasted like smoky apricot tobacco for a pipe � the smell of a relaxing grandfather but sweet like a soft grandmother. This juice was followed by a similar juice made from rose hips.

We had a salad � more like a slaw � of beets, nuts and dried fruits. Soon after this came the first toast of the night. It was a honey pepper vodka that had been sitting on the table waiting until we had adequate food in our stomachs. We were instructed to get a pickle to chase the drink and roman held up his shot glass filled with the honey colored vodka. He spoke of his wishes for us to be touched by this place and by its people, and for this to be the beginning of a long connection with both. It was a storytellers toast � patient and measured and from a fiery heart. It matched the vodka.

Then came borsht � the famous beet soup of Ukraine. It was fantastic � enough that I will be searching for good borsht in San Francisco and will not rest until I find it. Actually, we were invited to Roman and Ira�s home to make borscht with them � I hope this will happen while we are here. Evidently people love to cook in their homes here. I would love to learn to make it for my friends and family at home.

To tell you the truth, I could not wait to have another shot of this vodka. As everyone who knows me would attest, I am not a big drinker, so this is a little strange. I proposed a toast and assured Roman that we had been to the Ukraine even before we arrived, by way of the good people we had been working with. I told them I felt blessed to be able to build bridges with people so generous and welcoming. I told them I wished this was a beginning of a long relationship for our businesses and families. The third toast was offered up and we were told that the third toast is a traditionally always the same. �To Love�.

The night ended with a nice long walk through the city. Our turning point was the tent city that was erected by the protestors of the rigged elections. Still many remain waiting until the new president is sworn in. It occupies the entirety of a large section of one of the main city streets � in San Francisco this would be like building a tent city on market street or in front of city hall. Complete with large tents � stoves to heat them, people crowded around open fires talking, laughing, drinking, singing. The perimeter of the tent city is every form of makeshift barrier, covered in messages, drawings, found art and posters. Orange is everywhere! The mood is that of pride and contentment. There seems to be so little nervousness in this city, as so many larger ones I have been to. The Ukrainian people are decent and content people who have found a voice and raised it to change their future and that of their children.

They are at the beginning of a new chapter in their long country, and I am filled with gratitude to be moving through it. Leaving my small wake, adding my smiles my questions and some small measure of my days. Ahhh Kyiv.

Activism has not been a party of my daily life until recently. I was not exposed to these ideas in my childhood, and only started my education in progressive issues and activism over the past 10 years, and mostly in the last 5. So I’m a yung un.

I do subscribe to Moveon.org, and have participated in their easy two click letters to my congressmen and such. That is such an awesome idea!!

I (of course) completely love the last quote. Thank you for this post! This is such valuable information!

Besides the links, Tao and I are beginning work on the a DS sticker campaign. I will explain it in full when I see you next week  but one aspect of this campaign will be to come up with “everyday activism” to match the theme of the campaign. Maybe we can dialog around these themes and see what you have come up with.

It also makes me think it would be cool to come up with a new blog at DS called Everyday Activism (or maybe it is a little tag on the side) and it would simply give people the activism for the day. Very simple things – super simple – like “pick up a piece of trash”. Or “leave a 3×5 card with your favorite quote on it on the windshield of someone’s car” or “click on this link to send an activist e-card to someone”

Just a few thoughts – I am very interested in this – hey Tao didn’t we see a book along these lines at the Green Festival?

Here are a few links I collected at the green festival in SF, CA, USA:
http://www.codepinkalert.org
http://www.democracynow.org
http://www.greenfestivals.com/
http://www.newsociety.com
http://www.lovemoregourmet.com
http://www.oxfamamerica.org
http://www.fairtradecertified.org
http://www.globalcitizencenter.org
http://www.primalpetfoods.com
http://www.earthtones.com
http://www.kpfa.org
http://www.caclean.org
http://www.inticketing.com
http://www.greenerchoices.org
http://www.motherjones.com/
http://www.quakeradio.com/main.html
http://www.greenmba.com

I couldnt help also offering http://www.delocator.net/index.php though.

so the problem is that the mainstream media where most conservative americans get their information and “news” is way too narrow and has bred and rewarded a culture of irresponsibility.

their participation in moving our country to war – fueled by putting forth speculation and whole heartedly supporting the administration in its movement to turn potential threat into certain threat. They can not be trusted anymore.

There is an information devide now. Those who march to the single tune of a corporate media and the administration it has been following, and those who are digging for the information where they can find it.

While I dont waste my energy on paranoia or conspiracy theories, I am definately sickened by this memo, and find it typical of the lack of insight into the rest of our country’s reality. It is certainly the type of thing I could see being discussed, as their earlier reports (such as the Plan for a New American Century that V referrences) have been in existance for a while to exhibit this sort of thinking.

Thanks for the links Danny. Don’t let them get to you – keep on your road to peace – it is powerful and it is making a difference. Don’t let them drain you.

Save it for the game man. Save it for the game.

sorry about that

I always come at these things with the thought of what would happen if I presented it to my conservative family during a political argument. They would simply poo-poo the accusation that this memo and its implications exist, siting that it’s only being posted on “radical and progressive liberal” web sites. The would site “one insider said…one administration aide said…etc.” and say there’s no proof. So, what do I say to that?

Although there is no doubt in my mind that some in this administration do have these thoughts – I mean, it’s only logical…EVIL, but logical – I’m not sure that I buy that they would be so stupid as to circulate a memo such as this.

http://www.alonovo.com

War-N
Hungry Lucy

My father is the one who introduced me to Buk – I don’t know if I told you that – That could explain why my mother always changes the subject when I ask about the depression.

Thank you so much for continuing to write about this. More than once during difficult bouts of pain I’ve thought about your post, and how the inspiration I felt after reading it really did seem to help my pain. Thanks also for your response last time — I didn’t see it until you mentioned we should all check out your previous blog again.

Pain’s a bitch. Plain and simple. It is without a doubt the one force in my life that has changed me the most. It’s totally changed the way I live, the way I think, and impacted just about every corner of my life in one way or another.

People around me are supportive, but you’re right: no one can really understand your pain. Not even if they have pain themselves. I’m not the only one in my family who suffers chronic pain, but I’m sure it’s as distant to me as my pain is to them. Talking about it really helps though, as does exchanging strategies or just being sympathetic.

What I really took away from your previous blog (and this one), and what gave me the most hope, was the concept of accepting the pain as part of who you are. That doesn’t mean saying “I don’t care” but rather “this may very well be with me my whole life. I have to learn to live with it, and not be afraid of it.”

You’re absolutely right: As soon as you stop being afraid of your pain, it becomes better. I just wish not being afraid of it was easier…

http://www.europaluxury.com

FOR ULTRA RICH ONLY…

Laura, like you, I have used chiropractic, and as much as i liked it better than some of the traditional allopathic medical treatments I could have had, it also fell short. I think it’s because I was focused only on the body.

At a party, at work, in a bar, in many “real world” social environments, we meet a wide variety of people. Some we don’t hit it off with, some we do. Some we chat with at a party and seem to get along great, but trying to meet with them later, outside the party, we wonder how we ever enjoyed talking to the person. At work we might get along very well with a co-worker, but if we try meeting outside of work we find that work is your only common interest, and the relationship is best left there.

The above might sound familiar to anyone who’s tried meeting someone “in RL” that they know from an online game, or a message board, or a blog…Like any other social interaction, it can depend on the context of the relationship. Just as you might only get along with someone from work while you’re at work, you might only get along with a person in an online game or a message board that focuses on your common interests. It doesn’t surprise anyone when they meet a friend-of-a-friend, hit it off for a while, then lose interest and drift away from them. Yet when we do the same online, it somehow becomes representative of online relationships in general, rather than just another social context switch that didn’t work out, or yet another person who seemed at first to be more interesting than they really were.

Granted, there are people who have an easier time socializing online than in person. Similarly, some people are great at parties but terrible at one-on-one interaction, some have social lives only at work, not outside it, others are vivacious in intimate gatherings of a few friends but are quiet and reserved at larger parties….The list can go on and on. For the kind of person for whom some social situations are more suitable than others, those different social contexts aren’t crutches, they’re more like canes – if you can recognize your limitations, it’s better to work within them than to stoically limp along, insisting that there’s nothing you need to adapt to.

peace, love & moonpies,
peter

I also really loved the tarantula dog. Sorry, Tao! If you want, we can work on some desensitization about your spider phobia.

Finally, I loved the link for the tags–found myself dreaming of begniet (sp?) donuts and coffe in New Orleans.

It helps me so much to have you post links where I can return and find new ways to do things. It’s also a reminder that I want to keep doing it better while not engaging in guilt for the things I don’t do “right” yet. thanks again!

And the army outside the gates, the “cultural battering ram” isn’t as large as we’ve come to think, thanks to corporate media and it’s lies. As we think about peace and enact it, let us remember how many of us there are who have been silenced—until now.

Much love to all…

Prop 73 would have endangered lives. Abortions in neighboring states (without parental notification laws) rise when this kind of law is enacted; many girls wait longer to get abortions due to transportation and logistics issues, adding to increased health risks.

cool

Our dad always told us that we could tell him anything no matter what. We always knew that our punishment would be much harsher if we lied about what it was we did rather than fess up to it (after we were caught, of course).

These “laws” that people try to get passed to replace good parenting are a mistake and Sunday Funnies thinks that California has certainly made a statement this election that we want the law making to be left to the law makers and the parenting left to…well…the parents!

Take that Arnie!

I’ve been playing MMO’s and engaging in various nerdly activities for as long as I can remember. Luckily for me, most of my real friends play the same games I do, which has kept me grounded. Without them, I’ve no doubt I’d have flown heedlessly off into the void of cyberspace and never looked back.

In the time I’ve played these games I’ve made several close friends. True friendship is rare in online games, but when you find it it can be as strong, or stronger then more “real” relationships.

When you meet someone online you are forced to communicate with them through a medium of the mind, rather then a physical one. Such relationships, while hard to get off the ground, can be very strong because of this foundation.

In regard to Kurosawa movies, I would also add Sanjuro (1962) to a list that would be strictly Kurosawa. His distinctive vision in Sanjuro is a perfect example of his ability to induce almost immediate immersion into his subject matter. It is a story woven so well that one begins to feel as if experiencing the movie from within…. This is just one of the many facets of Kurosawa’s genius, not to mention the deft handling of the movies’ comic line – Toshiro Mifune is a joy and this movie has fine performances all around. This is a dusky gem that deserves repeated viewings.

The way you have come out of there and on the same night put all of this brain power into compiling resources and information for us is incredible. Thank you! I echo your idea of staying agitated. Thanks for helping us to do just that.

These are America’s new leaders, in name and in deed.

I love the metaphor Chrisybug; get those greasy paws out of our love! Who can dictate, control, stop, forbid, love? Only ignorance would try to impose such fanatical inanity on the heart.

I picked up a free copy of The Onion (a satirical newspaper/group many of you may be familiar with) the other day. The faux headline that caught my attention:

“Bush Refutes Gravity–Proposes ‘Intelligent Falling” Theory”.

It’s entertaining stuff, but we must insist on the separation of Church and State. You’re right this a war. Thanks for the sharp analysis.

It was nice today, at the Green Festival in San Francisco, to see Amy Goodman (Host of DEMOCRACY NOW!) honor the memory of Rosa Parks as well, with the understanding that she was not just a lone icon, but part of many–and that she certainly knew, as a long time activist, what she was doing when she refused to get up. This world is a better place thanks to all those who care enought to stand for justice. May her memory, her legacy, he bravery inspire us all to resist injustice.

Once again, thanks for the apropo musical commentary…

I’ve always been amused every time I’ve seen any new technology for socially gathering over the internet in a 3D space that is not a game. Invariably they all fail. As far back as the days of Quake I couldn’t help but think “Hey, games have already done this.” NetMeeting, eat your heart out.

EverCrack really is an appropriate name. Giving up gaming was the hardest exercise in self control I’ve ever endured. I stoically played through much pain, because games truly become a crutch. The social networks they create are wonderful, but there is a delicate balance that is difficult to maintain.

Still, it has been my experience that Internet relationships are more transient than RL ones. Your mileage may vary.

I guess games and the Internet are very much like any other powerful tool: Capable of good and bad, but ultimately a reflection of our own exercise of the responsibility they put upon us.

That’s cool Veronica. It’s nice to see the friendship aspect of playing online translates to “reality”. I hope those friendships continue to grow.

I was into D&D as a kid and I know that a few DS Blogger’s were as well.

I love video games (I haven’t yet got into MMORPG’s) but I have to limit my time spent with them too.

right?

Thanks to all for your comments!

Thank you for the reminder of “Haliburton” and our lovely 2004 election. How could we forget Diebold, and how the GOP President of the Company promised to deliver his State to Bush…ahh memories…does anyone know if Diebold will be allowed to repeat this performance in 2008????

The first time I saw the Shining is particularly unforgettable – a life imitates art experience. I couldn’t have known an estranged family friend would show up at our door–a place pretty much in the middle of nowhere–ranting and threatening break down the door–he was obviously crazed on Speed. We locked him out, pulled out the shotgun, and waited for him to leave. We then proceeded to watch the rest of the Shining…and see Jack Nicholson turn into a raving madman. My brother and I were so freaked out we took turns staying up all night to keep watch…

I liked the minesweeper! Ah, sweet memories of temping in the financial district… Funny and not so funny at the same time.

I am really struggling to understand what a switch to life values would look like. I think there is a practice to discover here and that the practice will be a form of revolution. To discribe to myself what it means to have values based on life and to practice them – this seems like it could make a dent.

I myself hold with Ken Wilber whose philosophy points to the importance of goodness (moral practice, religion, ethics, etc.), truth (science and empirical observation) and beauty (artistic expression and creativity) all make up the complete picture of how we can best act within and comprehend our universe and our place in it. This is to say that religion has a part to play as does science and a hybrid of the two does not need to be discovered. Certainly there are themes of each in each – there is a science of religion – one can see this in the refinement of spiritual practice or in the rigor of systematic philosophy applied to the interpretation of Holy Books. Similarly there is a spiritual aspect within science – the wonder and ponderance that brings us to new theories. One can see this in the recent independent film What the Bleep or in the ethics applied within the scientific community that govern the scientific method.

I do understand the temptation to assign evolution as a tool of God’s to bring about the universe we find ourselves in. As a man who loves processes as much as he ever loved a specific outcome, I think that this sort of cosmology makes sense. The reality is that this is a faith based hypothesis. It comes out of the orientation of a particular spiritual belief. That there is an entity that is guiding the universe to be what it is and what it has been and what it will be. Then it steps into using the strict observations of science. Evolution however is a scientific understanding.

I am not a rigid person. I am one who does belief that at least an overview of religions – the anthropology of religion or history of religion – would be useful education. I would be happy to hear that some of the worlds most beautiful and well studied literature (happens to be from Holy Books) was being taught to my child as something of literary value. In other words I am not one who suggests that religion has no place in public life. I believe in a free society that is not trying to evangelize one another, an open dialog and instruction about the matters of religion would become a powerful advantage to a culture.

However this is not the reality we find ourselves in here in the US. We find ourselves in a place where those of us who do not want to be evangelized must be on guard. We must guard our bodies, our minds and our souls from people who like advertising agents are constantly devising ways to get their conversion message to us.

Thanks Eric, for this great topic. I have heard the discussions but have not had a chance to ramble about them. Thanks as always.

As Arundhati Roy said, “Our freedoms were not granted to us by any governments. They were wrested from them by us. And once we surrender them, the battle to retrieve them is called a revolution.”

She also said “It would be naive to imagine that we can directly confront Empire. Our strategy must be to isolate Empire’s working parts and disable them one by one. No target is too small. No victory too insignificant.” She could have been talking about Rosa Parks. Such a small thing, to refuse to give up a seat, yet such a fire it started.

People like Rosa Parks are the tinder that ignites the flames of revolution. Simple, humble people who insist on peace, who bend but do not break. I think if we all try to follow this example in our own lives, no matter how small, we will affect a change much greater than the sum of our parts.

Thanks for posting about this, Andrei. I feel like our country isn’t paying enough attention to this, nor do we seem to see the blatent coorelations between that time and our own.

Ceremony and legitimacy in the eyes of secular law go a long way to stabilize and normalize the events in our lives. They become bedrock that can only be challenged with good reason. They add the energy of intent and focus that energy into a common construct. This goes a long way in the general uncertainty of life.

Hey if you want a DS email let me or hyperlexic know.

Keep the funnies coming – they are a much needed happy blast on the site. Blog on!

thanks Carlo

Oh, and additional picture titles are MORE than welcome. Also, if you would like any pictures submitted for review for future additions of Sunday Funnies please email them to Sundayfunnies@drivingsocrates.com

This is the kind of thing that reinforces my love and respect for the philosophy behind open-source. Yes this is ‘free’ software, but think of it not so much like ‘free beer’….it’s more in the category of ‘free speech’.

These pictures are indeed real photographs of an impressive palatial structure, but contrary to the claims made in the accompanying text they evidently do indeed depict a hotel, not a private home. These are images of the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), a facility that “boasts 302 superior rooms and 92 magnificent suites each combining the ultimate in luxury with 22nd century technology.” (How they managed to obtain technology a hundred years in advance of the stuff available to the rest of us is something we haven’t yet figured out.)

As the Emirates Palace Hotel’s web site describes the accommodations offered (or soon to be offered) there:

All Palace rooms offers plasma screens, interactive TV’s and high speed Internet access.

8 restaurants representing cuisine from across the globe will be opening in December 2004 with 10 additional outlets scheduled to open in 2005. Internationally branded specialty restaurants will include Iranian, seafood, Mediterranean, Arabic, and Asian cusine complemented by a number of relaxing lounges and cafes.

A selection of the worlds most exclusive brands in luxury jewellery and fashion for the discerning shopper.

The longest private beach in Abu Dhabi, 1.3 km of golden sands and two stunning pools artistically landscaped on the east and west wings of the Palace.

Two Spa fit for kings and queens will be located in the east and west wings, featuring a luxury line of beauty products along

Emirates Palace will be home to the best Marina UAE with private berths for yachts. Full Service facilities will be available as well as leisure facilities.

Many of the pictures shown above are also offered in the photo gallery on the hotel’s web site, including views of the many hotel restaurants, luxury suite bedrooms and bathrooms, swimming pools, and atria, as well as the cars available through their limousine service.

Hey dude I think you should have a “Famous Last Words” section. Here are some for this week:

“This boat is comfortable, but its really tippy…”

I too would love to hear your views on the brothers cohen –

“Mark it zero dude”

A number of Kurosawa’s earlier and lesser-known films have been recently acquired by Netflix. If you are a subscriber I highly reccomend queueing any Kurosawa you have not seen. If not, hopefully other rental outfits have done the same. I am considering a Part 3 or 4 of this post that would list and briefly review all 31 of the feature films he directed in his career.

I think you are right dingo – a bad person can not make good coffee – good coffee must contain a good dose of care, love or good will.

good piece, Andrei

Thank you for sharing.

La

(FYI… “escena” means “scene” or “stage”- pronounced with a soft “C”. It could be that, or it could be “esquina” which means “corner.”) Not trying to correct you, [but I guess I am], and it is a very minor point, but it could be called either and make sense.

Regardless of the name of the store, the photos are lovely and so is your dialogue… you have great voice!! I’m sure it was a well-deserved vacation!

Great to hear from you. I must say I am not surprised that you have been to the Osa – you definately seem like that type of woman. The adventurous type I mean

Stay tuned – and thanks so much for leaving a comment here at DS.

Seriously though the reclaiming of the land there is truly inspiring. 28% of the entire country is now protected by the government with very strict laws about how it can be used..

stay loopy!

Hungry Lucy

We need to stay aware of our actions and the consequences of those. We need to be more pro-active in making good, positive choices in our world.

I guess if you’re really rich, you can just leave this planet one day and set up camp on the Moon or Mars. Is that our only refuge left?

I would say first that I feel a kindred connection between your work and Carver’s. The two felt so connected and I found myself wishing that all reading had this connection to sound.

I am also really hoping to find out about the sounds in the first part – where are they from and what did you do to them. They are so charming and melancholy at the same time – they feel like a lonely drive in a moonlight and fog – fence posts wooshing as I pass.

Thanks for this work. I need to think more about it and listen to it more in order to understand why it feels so important in my own journey, but it does. The unfortunate thing is that now I will be bugging you for more.

On and on the fool on the hill goes around, and in the end I feel somewhat positive that the only true path to life, liberty and happiness with be through responsibility and sacrifice for life. And of course an eventual leap of faith into the scary unknown world where bettering ones self and ones world is the highest form of progress.

Thanks for your thought provoking wisdom Eric.

My counter to it would be this. Being in San Francisco and having many homosexual friends with children, I can speak a bit to the process of homosexual’s ability to perpetuate the human species. One might even argue that the way that one of the predominate ways that homosexuals perpetuate the species (through artificial insemination) would actually be a way of strengthening the species.

Artificial insemination is a process of more articulate selection than simple biological impulse which often times is the cause of pregnancies. This is not to say that people do not think about who they marry in a heterosexual relationship, but as you will no doubt agree – many children that come from heterosexual relationships actually come from heat of the moment passion, others come from the same and lead to marriage, and still others (in many parts of the world) come from arranged marriages, and still some also come from rapes and incest. Many of these methods of perpetuating the species are very inarticulate and in some parts of the world actually lead to birth defects because of issues of inbreeding.

For a homosexual couple – let’s say two women – to have a child through artificial insemination, they must first select a sperm donor. I have seen the great amount of thought that goes into this process, and let me tell you it is serious business. It is amazing to watch a couple so critically choose the gene pool that will contribute to their child so that it has the best chances of living a healthy happy life. Sometimes the donor is a known person and other times they are strangers who have offered their biological information for evaluation. Either way, the decision process that is undergone is – I am going to speculate here – much more informed and articulate than most decisions made by heterosexual couples because the factor of chance and heat of the moment is removed.

I also like the fact that the process actually takes longer. I think that if more people went through this process – whether they are gay or straight – we would have fewer children being born. Overpopulation is a continued concern, so my feeling is that any process that slows this overpopulation down without violating people’s rights is a good thing.

But besides this argument, I would say to you this. Homosexuals are a minority in our society – even in places like San Francisco where people do not have to hide their sexuality as much as in other parts of the world. So your concerns of the human population being unable to perpetuate itself based on the idea that the world will suddenly become gay are unfounded.

But finally I will rely on one final point. The fact that as the son of a lesbian couple, I have had a rich experience in growing up in this world. I was raised to respect people in their many diverse lifestyles and creeds and colors, and because of this I have found a great deal of joy in the many different people I have known. In my personal opinion, we need many more children of gay and lesbian parents, for the simple reason that because they have had to struggle so hard to accept themselves in such a prejudiced society, they truly look deeply at the individual they are raising and celebrate their uniqueness. In the end our world needs people who have been valued in this way, so that can confidently step forward into a world that needs a lot of work.

It’s time for these people to grow up and focus on the real threats: the environment, global warming, corporations owning everything, lack of funding for education and medicare, and about a million more important topics. It just pisses me off that they feel like they have the right to decide what is best for people in their own private lives. Thank you, Donna, for bringing this to our attention!!

Happy Anniversary you two!

Funny that this is what came to mind, when so many people in this world do not have these freedoms, and even those in my own country who are suffering in the aftermath of Katrina. (Aren’t you glad that’s not YOUR name, by the way?? Good grief! What an association!) It also brings to mind so many of the freedoms that we are fearful of losing these days, what with our new “Homeland Security” measures and all.

But for today, I feel pretty damn free. And I am thankful for that. Thanks SS, for taking me out myself for a moment. Love you!

I love that you shared these vulnerable moments and your honesty about your feelings and thoughts made me consider my own reactions to the losses people are suffering everyday on our little blue marble.

I feel like this will be a big consideration while we are on our vacation. I don’t typically quote the bible these days, but there is a quote that comes to mind from the new testament book of Luke 12:48 “To whoever much is given, much will be required; and to whom much was entrusted, more will be asked.”

It makes me think that more than ever before we are entering a time when those who have been given much will face this more and more. How do we share in a society where sharing goes against common convention, when the hell bent get ahead attitude would drive us past our needy neighbors?

How do we turn our lives and energies towards impacting these gross inequities when we are assaulted by an army of silly products bombarding our psyches? I don’t know the answer but I think we better find it.

Unloading the pantry is a fine start. Feeling the tears – the sting of sorrow for those who are in need – this is a powerful start. The more we open the places we are hurting – the more likely they will make difference in the world.

GREAT BLOG – WELCOME ZOE!!!!!

I am so thrilled to be going to a place so far into the jungle that they don’t even really have phones there, they all communicate with each other via CB radio! Ahhhhh, I can’t wait to hear the silence, only speckled with bird calls and monkey hoots…and maybe some Andrei hoots as well

I’ll join Andrei out there, and we’ll both be voodoo-ing you from our kayaks with good intentions and wishes for peace and good things.

yay,
SHerry

shelby – i understand where you are coming from here. i do think there is at times a weakening of one’s point of view if exaggeration is used. However – do you really think there is no appropriate time for exaggeration as a form of protest? For instance I saw a photo of a very young boy being patted down at an airport security checkpoint. I don’t think this was the norm by any means and it did represent a far end of the bell curve in what was going on, but it was powerful. It brought to the forefront for me the absurdity in misdirecting our resources where making ourselves “safer” was concerned.

This image to me speaks powerfully and originally about an association that we must continue to build anger and dissent. How do we associate this anger and the impact of what is going on without combining the extreme words and images that need to be connected.

I also wonder – and I am truly questioning this so I welcome other ideas here – please. Does a certain amount of anger embolden our ability to protest? I mean, in truth are we angry enough to get things to change right now?

Part of me says – “stay agitated” or things will not change. If things are tame and people do not know how fed up and upset we are about the state of things, will they ever take note. If we are inside staring at our TVs shaking our heads instead of shaking this situation up what will change?

The other part of me goes Buddha and says everything is exactly as it should be.

But then that first part says – “shut up – your no Buddha dude. This is unacceptable –get to work” – haha.

Definitely a good discussion guys. Thanks.

I respect your perspective and appreciate your honesty.

Generally speaking and not directly to you…

As an artist I see the importance in presenting an image to encourage others to think. Visual allegories have been used for centuries in art. Some are quite obvious while others are not.

I’m not trying to fool people into thinking that this sign actually exists. I’m trying to focus on a serious topic which is that innocent people are dying for the greed of oil.

For “those with different viewpoints” as you stated I want to hear how they justify the murder of innocent lives for oil.

Focus on the message and not so much on the execution of the image. This is not CNN. This is a place where we challenge each other to “open” our eyes, ears and minds to truth.

Provoking anger within you is intentional. We all need to wake up and join hands. We need to make an effort as a group to put an end to the excessive use of oil and the hideous crimes tolerated by corporations and governments.

I will continue to post images on this Blog and from time to time I may manipulate them but only for the sake of telling a story.

From now on I will clearly state in writing if an image has been manipulated along with the image.

-eyeseetruth

Your Dad was an active supportor, too. Ask him what he used to do in the produce department.

In solidarity…we can aspire…”an injury to one is an injury to all.
mcb

May they be blessed, granted mercy and freed from their suffering,too.

PS Give Irie lots of extra strokes for me, mcb

Whale Rider is up with some of the very best movies I’ve ever seen and one of my favorites. Images and feelings from this movie have haunted me ever since I saw it. I stumbled upon it and thankfully hadn’t seen the contrived trailers which might have turned me away (I saw them on the DVD extras). The Beautiful cinematography, strong performances, and magic realism allow this art to resonate…with great mystery and love.

Thanks for this theme. I’ve already moved some of these movies up higher on my queue at Greencine.

america has the ability to do extraordinarily good things – and not so good things. unfortunately, the country has been hijacked by leaders with direct ties to the oil and defense industries, and our policies directly enrich private groups that have no affiliation to the country at all.

So true. The whole “if you don’t learn from history you will repeat it” thing really rings true in the face of so much carelessness on the part of US leadership. People have not been truly introduced or have not truly learned about empires and how they have ALL FALLEN eventually. As even an amateur student of history, I am certain that the USA will not last in its current state. At best we may have a chance to peacefully evolve into something better – at worst we may collapse into ruin with culture and resources and all the lessons learned or lost scatter into the pages of history books.

To base worth on gold or on black gold is such a futureless outlook.

Bush and Arsenic

Bush and Arsenic

Another Molly Ivins gem

Anne Rice – Do You What It Means To Lose New Orleans?

Thank for sharing your thoughts on this sensitive topic. I too experienced a sharp feeling of rage when I learned how Shell coupled with the Nigerian government exterminated nine brave souls.

Your idea of having an Information Resource Guide is brilliant. We definitely should have something like this.

Celebrate the first amendment.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment01/06.html#1

The essentialaction.org link may be an almost perfect example of how to present critical and detailed information on educational topics at Driving Socrates, perhaps the informational resource guide section to be? It’s concise and easy to read, with a clear depth of information and excellent documentation of sources.

I remember when Ken Saro-Wiwa was framed for murder and hung, along with eight other activists. (A definitive case against military tribunals by the way) I felt such a rage knowing the Shell corporation got away with its role in what can only be seen as a serial murder of local community activists, right in front of the world, and in 1995! Now 10 years later, I still can hardly fathom it. Blood for Oil to be sure, with absolute impunity.

I have no doubt in my mind that there are those in New Orleans where compassion and steadfast refusal to stand by and let anyone get raped ruled their very existence, to the point where some may have given their lives. This is also humanity, despite such tragedy and I hope these stories surface along with the rest of the mayhem.

I hear you though man. It is frightening how fast so-called society can descend into nightmarish situations. It’s so difficult to see this kind a utterly shameful behavior, much less witness the pain and damage every night on T.V.

Here’s a great story about one of several neighborhoods in San Francisco that have rejected Starbucks

The good news is cities across the country are passing ordinances like San Francisco’s Formula Business Ordinance (2004), which makes it mandatory for so-called formula businesses to notify neighborhoods before opening up shop. If the neighborhood objects to the store they have the option of “… requesting a public hearing and subjecting the applicant to a list of criteria.”

Would you feel safe being in the same room with poisonous snakes? You will, only if they are in a glass box. In this analogy the glass box represents the governing authority.

Humankind will always need a glass box to control chaos in order to feel safe. What happened in New Orleans was horrendous. “Officers have turned in their badges” and they fled from New Orleans… Chaos overcame order because our government allowed it to.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/katrina.impact/index.html

Our government failed to respond quickly enough. Our government failed to assist our own people at time when we needed it the most.

Our government was clearly aware of the worse case scenario. It is quite evident that they were not prepared.

I was in NYC on 9/11. I witnessed a response so swift and so well organized, that it felt ‘pre-planned’. The following day hundreds of tractors, triage trucks, and rescue crews were present. It was an instant response. Our rescue efforts in New Orleans took nearly a week. What the heck is this about? Had our government been ‘prepared’ then a plan to rescue the survivors in a flooded region would have existed.

With a flux of advanced warnings how could our government fail to plan ahead of time for this? What happened in New Orleans is no surprise and in fact was expected to eventually happen.

Although I am furious about how slowly or government responded to this situation I agree with Andrei about the good acts of humanity that are taking place now. I agree that we also need to appreciate the positive efforts that are taking place. Financial support is coming in from as far as Japan, Germany and Australia. Rock Stars, NFL players, Movie Stars, TV Stars, and people like you and me are all making contributions to help. And finally our very own government is helping too.

How do we punish our governing body for their lethargic response? How do we prevent this from happening again? Can we? After all this is our government and we are all paying for it.

What if you are next and what if again the response is lethargic?

A body floats outside the Superdome in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
(James Nielsen AFP/Getty Images)
September 2, 2005

i hear that you are in a place of distress over this event. I do encourage you to spend some more time on the things that people are doing that are not anamilistic. surely you are not saying that everyone in N.O and the gulf states are turned to animals.

i would also add that as with every moment in life and in human history, we are asked whether we will take the banner of hope or the banner of forfeit. You have this choice too.

You are here and you have a choice to continue to fight for hope, for goodness and light. This is not easy. You are right – we have come up from the mud and slime and we are animals. Maybe the moral animal but the animal none the less.

The continued emergence from the muck relies on us doing what we can to drag ourselves out year by year.

How do you think chaos will spread if not by us spreading it. What will you spread – right now my firend – what will you spread? light or dark?

This as always is the choice. For my part I will always choose light – I will go down choosing it if necessary.

and no, the media is not blowing this out of proportion. i’ve seen the police chief interviewed and doctors interviewed who have confirmed these actions. we need to reboot humanity.

Pretty darn real… The text is photoshop – but a true statement…

It’s hard to believe. I first noticed the sign while heading South on I-5. I have never seen anything like this before. It’s so eerie. I decided to exit and to get closer to the sign for a photo. To my surprise the gas station was nowhere to be found! Could this be the future of oil I thought to myself.

Here are some links worth reading:

In 1995, 9 Nigerian environmental activists were hung in order to prevent them from “stopping (the) pollution of their homeland and getting a fair share of oil profits. ”

Shell was a key player. Read it here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/10/newsid_2539000/2539561.stm

http://www.essentialaction.org/shell/issues.html

Also, do you know where you dollars go when you buy fuel?

This is something interesting to read:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/saudigas.asp

You may want to print this out and keep it handy.

Somethine extra to enjoy:

http://www.bloodforoil.org

I am also reminded of the Stars upon Thars book by Dr. Suess.

On a site dedicated to Starbucks Gossip and frequented by workers of the chain http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/_/2004/11/starbucks_cups_.html – you can find plenty of statements like –

“We go through about 50 gallons of milk a day and do not recycle a single carton. We always have left-over NY Times and local papers and we never recycle those either.”

Who would support such behavior – my theory is that people less in touch with such concerns are often less in touch with the problems of littering. I know this is a bit of a leap, but awareness changes people. If the people consuming from Starbucks actually looked into the face of their consumption, most would no longer participate – at least if you believe people are basically good and would choose not to harm their fellow humans or the natural world anymore than they could help. Still you are correct in saying that the garbage being left everywhere is not their doing.

I think the thing I am pointing to with this blog chain is that unconsidered consumption breeds inconsiderate behavior. When we are mindful of what we are doing, or behavior towards ourself, our fellow human and the natural world tend to be at its best. Littering is a basic act of consideration that most of us learned as children. This is a mirror, hopefully it reflects the problem to some people who are contributing, but at the very least it will populate the internet with images that demonstrate a condition.

Thanks for tuning in SBGK!

One of my favorite things at DS so far is to see the growing welcome of new bloggers. Some day a welcome will be 100 comments!

The cost of the chiropractic work was paid for, but I didn’t feel like it was the solution for me.

I totally believe in the power of thought to cure many physical ailments. We often forget how connected our emotional and physical states are.

Although I am a teacher and I’m around germs all day long, my friends are often surprised that I rarely get sick. I have found that if I just don’t “allow it” into my body, it doesn’t come in. OK, diet and exercise help too.

Thank you for reminding us to keep our pain away by facing our emotional state and dealing with negative emotions. I think we are too quick to medicate or have surgery in this country.

It is impossible to have a pain-free life, but I wish you to come as close to that as possible.

Stay positive!!

Those for whom peace is no more than a dream are asleep to the future.

–Jack DuVall
Founding Director of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.

In addition, I have been contemplating how we can create trails out of the online world to the offline world. I.e. social actions that are more conventional (marches, print, lectures, art projects, demonstration, etc.) being inspired or begun online. I think there is a real opportunity to explore this connection and to build it with this community of people with experience in both on and offline activism.

So my first question would be – can you share any initial thoughts you have around strategies you have used previously and how they might inform and or shape the strategies for our growth and development as a progressive community attempting to make a difference?

Here is where you can sign a petition to stop Kenneth Tomlinson’s apparent mission to prevent “dissenting” views from being broadcast on public television:

http://www.commoncause.org/site/apps/ka/ct/contactus.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=640919&en=olIUL3MOKiJTJ6NYLhIOKcMUKmI0I5OUKoK0IfM1KvLdE

And here’s another site if you’re interested in learning more or even getting involved somehow:

http://www.hearusnow.org/mediaownership/getinvolvedguide/

I’m just coming off of a crazy busy couple of weeks, and can offer nothing more than just reading right now. But maybe some of you might find that these sites spring you into action right now!

But then I am gently a guiding Spirit leads me and reminded in the Word….
Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Surely, God has a plan that we must trust. But surely He desires peace for ALL of us as well.
Anyway, thanks for the thoughts and inspirations.
Maybe this too may be of encouragemnt to you.

Peace and love, your sister, Rachel

Psalm 85:10
Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Isaiah 54:10
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 55:12
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Isaiah 57:19
creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the LORD. “And I will heal them.”

Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Jude 1:2
MERCY, PEACE and LOVE be yours in abundance!

Son of COINTELPRO
(Written 12/11/02)

“… [T]he Bureau of Investigation is not concerned with political or other opinions of individuals. It is concerned only with their conduct and then only with such conduct as is forbidden by the lawsof the United States. When a police system passes beyond these limits, it is dangerous to the proper administration of justice and human liberty, which it should be our first concern to cherish…”

– Harlan Fiske Stone (U.S. Attorney General – 1924)

It is often utterly amazing to read the high and lofty prose of Stone, speaking of the forerunner organization that would later be known as the FBI – the Federal Bureau of Investigation. One almost wonders, what nation did he live in? And further, when he became a Supreme Court Justice, did his later prose suffer from a similar kind of myopia?

The FBI woud emerge as the nation’s premier snoops, who never let such a thing as the Constitution get in its way, and became a virtual prototype of the secret political and (indeed!) sexual police, whofought viciously to preserve a racist, class-bound, andgender-inequal *status quo*, and treated those who were allegedly’American’, as if they were the feared foe, and the dreaded foreigner, for decades. Contrary to Justice Stone’s sweet words, it was indeed the ‘politics’ and ‘opinions’ of average folks that sparked the attention and the official enmity of the FBI.

When the COINTELPRO scandal broke in the 1970s, then-U.S. Senator,Walter Mondale, and Senate Chairman Frank Church, spoke in harsh terms of the actions of the FBI:

Senator Mondale: Would it be fair to say that the tactics used against Dr. [Martin Luther] King had been borrowed from tactics used against foreign risks, spies, agents, and the rest, who could and did pose a threat?

Mr. [F.A.O.] Schwartz (Counsel to Senate Committee): Mr. Mondale, your own examination of Mr. [William] Sullivan [Asst. Dir-FBI] seems to me brought home that point as clear as it could be.

Senator Mondale: So that the techniques which were used were techniques that we knew about through experience against foreign enemies. So that for all practical purposes, Dr. King was treated as though he was one of them?

Mr. Schwartz: I do not think he was the only person, but that is certainly accurate.

Senator Mondale: … When did counterintelligence programs stop?

Mr. Schwartz: Well, that is in question….

Senator Mondale: So are you saying we cannot be sure that COINTELPRO, in all of its elements, has been terminated? [Senate Hearings, Nov. 1975]

Terminated? Hardly.

Even during those now-infamous hearings, FBI agents refused to say that what they did was wrong. Hoover never said so. Indeed, the activities of the FBI continued, just under another name.

The FBI tried to talk (or rather scare) Dr. King into committing suicide, and fought tooth and nail to prevent him from achieving many of his quite legal political goals. They were political police, sexpolice, and even race police.

And these factors did not end with the passing of Hoover, nor did it vanish with the appointment of any of his successors in office.

The acts that earned senatorial scorn in the 1970s have emerged now, in this ‘new’ age, this new century, as a kind of necessity of war; political snooping, concentration camps of dark minorities (a dream of Hoover from the ’30s), the aura of electronic surveillance of every discernible communication, the fear, the rampant paranoia, all of these things that stem from the supposedly bygone era, and had the benefit of, at least, being illegal, have been magically made legal in this new era.

Welcome to the 21st Century. This is ‘progress’. This is the Future. As the childhood of the ’60s generation were marred by the pall of the Cold War, so this newest generation will too breakfast under the arches of fear. But this War to come will be far from Cold.

This is an Imperial War, waged by men who claim dibs on the whole planet. *Pax Americana*. Perpetual war for perpetual promises of peace.

When King and Cesar Chavez were vilified by the FBI, it wasn’t because they threatened public order, but because they threatened the private accumulation of capital. They were thus enemies of Empire. For this, they were harassed, harried, humiliated, and run aground.

Has COINTELPRO ended? That past is still with us.

Text (c) copyright 2002 by Mumia Abu-Jamal. All rights reserved.

Yet still it is that today more of the substance of our environment and by extension our consciousness and our experience of life is being manufactured, and done so with very specific purpose. The Disney Channel is the shining example of the notion that to be successful an ad need only satisfy one condition: You must remember it. It’s an art form that has moved from persuasive to invasive. You remember your dreams, your ambitions, and The Disney Channel invokes this wonderful frame that is so central to us and quietly hangs a pair of mouse ears on the corner. It’s utterly brilliant, like so many weapons are.

As to dual incomes, that’s hardly something that was new to our society with the growth of the feminist movement. Since our society became more industrial than agrarian women have been working outside the home (the textile mills at the beginning of the 20th century are a good example – cf. “Bread and Roses Strike”). World War 2 brought the issue of equal footing in the workplace to the fore as women took jobs to fill in for men who were fighting overseas, but women had already been holding jobs before that. They just didn’t pay as well as those jobs did for men.

It might be increased leisure time and the availability of luxuries as the standard of living has grown in the US that could be to blame for the emphasis on dual incomes – as more becomes available, people might just want to own more. But whatever it might be, women were in the workforce alongside their husbands well before Gloria Steinem came along, whatever TV shows of the 50′s may want us to believe about an “idyllic” portrait of a sole earner family.

Nice work. I really like what this is shaping up to be. It has me toying with a similar idea or action for peace – this is of course the rippling effect you were looking for I am guessing. I also really wanted to thank you for introducing me to Hungy Lucy, not typically music I listen to but I am enjoying her voice and it gives me a feeling of innocence that I haven’t felt since highschool – maybe I am being reminded of the Bangles and Susanna Hoffs wonderful voice. Yes I am admitting to loving their sound even though I am not a girl.

Keep up the great work!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/08/10/notes081005.DTL

And I think MAN! Right ON! Let’s get pissed off! But really, what good does it do? But maybe it does do good. Maybe we should all be getting pissed and joining rallies and screaming our fool heads off. Why is it that we’re not doing that like they did in the 60′s? Seems like certainly a more fulfilling venue for the protestor, at least.

But then, in my own life, I have learned the wisdom of waiting until a person is ready -at least a little ready – to hear the hard stuff that I might have to say to them. And the wisdom of saying it in a way that will make sense to them.

So then, how do we chip away at the armor of those who understand differently than we do, so that there is that little crack in the foundation – that little readiness – that will allow some of our words to seep in. And do we start hiring PR company after PR company so that we can speak in a language that everyone will understand??

Ugh.

THE CONSTITUTION and “DEEP THROAT”

If the media is to be believed, the Age of Watergate has been reborn in the revelation of the identity of the figure known as “Deep Throat”, the high government source who divulged the criminal acts of the Nixon White House, leading to the fall of a President. W. Mark Felt, his hair a brilliant white, his mind and apparently his memory dimmed by over 90 winters, has announced that it was indeed he who was that important historical figure. He gave data to reporters of The Washington Post that uncovered the role of the White House in the break-in at the Watergate Hotel, the site of the offices of the Democratic National Committee, and the subsequent cover-up.

There are those who say that this man, in betraying the Nixon White House, and his boss, the Attorney General, was practicing a higher fidelity to the Constitution.

Those who say that apparently know little of whom they speak.

They hear or read that he headed the FBI’s counterintelligence division, and their mind conjures up shadowy images of undercover KGB spies, or spies of yet another foreign power. They do not know that his job was to use the powers of the federal government, through the FBI, to punish, and indeed destroy that which is allegedly protected under the First Amendment — the right to dissent.

W. Mark Felt, as Deputy Director of the FBI, led the ill-fated FBI program known as COINTELPRO (for Counter Inteligence Program), which targeted American citizens for opposing the Vietnam War, for advocating changes in Central American policies such as supporting brutal dictators, for supporting Civil Rights, Black Liberation, Women’s Rights, or socialism. His unit spied on law-abiding Americans, broke into homes, ripped open and read mail, tapped phones, harassed, isolated, threatened, and destroyed the lives of thousands of Americans, who merely opposed the U.S. government’s policies.

This guy cared about the Constitution so much that he was convicted of committing crimes in violation of the Constitution, and other laws, like authorizing burglaries, and authorizing break-ins of homes of dissidents.

In my book, WE WANT FREEDOM: A Life in the Black Panther Party (Cambridge, Ma.: South End Press, 2004), I dedicate an entire chapter to the many and sordid crimes of government, against American citizens, from Martin Luther King, Jr., to Fred Hampton, to school teachers, and even actors who got on the FBI’s bad side for daring to support positions they didn’t like. They hounded people, ran them out of jobs, set them up, and sometimes, killed them. I have documented them, and W. Mark Felt commanded many of those crimes. In November, 1980, two FBI officials were convicted in federal court, of authorizing break-ins into the homes of people, who were relatives, or friends of members of the radical Weather Underground. Those 2 FBI officials were Edward S. Miller, and W. Mark Felt. They were convicted of these crimes because they ordered agents to enter people’s homes without search warrants or probable cause.

On April 15, 1981, then-President Ronald Reagan pardoned the two men, saying they acted on “high principle.” (This is the same actor-politician who called the Contras of Nicaragua, “the moral equivalent of our founding fathers.”)

Months before the pardon, the U.S. government paid some $10,000 each to five persons whose homes were burglarized by the FBI, or whose phones were illegally wiretapped.

The federal convictions came years after Watergate, which proves that fidelity to the Constitution wasn’t the motivating factor in betraying the Nixon White House. In so doing, he was instead protecting the agency uber alles, not the Constitution, nor any other political entity. The agency committed crimes before Watergate, and certainly after Watergate, and perhaps during it.

They were the Praetorian Guard, a power unto themselves, more powerful than the Emperors. They still are.

Written 6/4/05 Copyright 2005 Mumia Abu-Jamal

I didn’t have a TV in my house until I was 12. By that time the magic of books was firmly rooted in my heart, my consciousness, imagination. I most often preferred reading to TV. My brother (step-brother, though I usually never refer to him in this way; he’s my brother) spent a lot of time at his Dads’ house, where he was set up in front of a TV much of the time. To this day it’s a rare occasion when he reads a book.

Seriously though – be casreful and when you leave your apartment announce to no one in particular, “Good thing I brought my gun with me.”

http://www.newint.org/issue308/dolls.html

http://www.mediaed.org/videos/CommercialismPoliticsAndMedia/MickeyMouseMonopoly/studyguide/html

http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/cho3108j5.htm

Here is a list of movie titles Disney has played a role in http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/300382/1/ref=br_lpsp_pg/002-9100186-8906415?

Here are just a few of the titles:
Evita
Never Cry Wolf
Aladdin
Mulan
Fantasia
Sister Act
Anne Frank
Rember the Titans (takes racism head on with Denzel Washington)
Nightmare before Christmas
James and the Giant Peach
Tron
The Black Hole
Pixar projects
Countless stories of animal adventures that are sympathetic to endangered species and animal rights and treatment issues
Spirited Away

Not exactly black and white by any means

I suffer chronic hand and arm pain. It often terrifies me because as a programmer my hands are my living. But the more I put mental depression aside the better I feel physically. You can’t ignore pain, but I just have to hold faith that you can overcome it, somehow.

Once Disney has primed you for “aspirational marketing”, you can grow up and watch the Nightly News, get freaked out by terrorism, and then blithely segue into the ultra smooth, high volume, car commercial every few minutes. It’s that super sleek, yet sensible sports car, with the age-demo nostalgic rock-op soundbytes, that will bring you inimitable safety—in stark contrast to the news-worthy fear just put into your heart. It’s a scary world with random acts of violence, but these products can protect you, right the inbalance you feel,make you feel happy again, the tacit packaged message.

I’ll take it too! This is really good information. I had to cheer when I read that your pain decreased after you read how fear affects chronic pain! I am reminded again of Bill Moyer’s book Healing and the Mind, a companion to his PBS documentary of the same title that was published in 1993. He interviewed people (including Jon Kabat-Zinn) on the forefront of exploring the mind / body connections. The variety of detailed information on this field of study must be amazing ten years later.

In 1988 I underwent a rather scary operation to remove a small “non-cancerous” Cholesteatoma tumor from my right inner ear in 1988. The tumor was creating an environment conducive to chronic ear infections. After the operation I had random shooting pain and chronic high pitched ringing tinnitus in my ear for several years. I was able to “make peace” with this tyranny of sound in part by understanding the mind/body connections and later with guided imagery sessions that Christina (your omni-talented daughter) walked me through in 1994. In this process I was able to “absorb” the sound and see it as a part of my own body, instead of viewing it as an invasion of my consciousness. Once I was able to do this, the shooting pain all but disappeared.

I welcome any dialogue on health and healing; my mom was a nurse for 30 years and I worked in the Home Health Care field for ten years. I got to see first hand how the medical system “works.” One of the key issues with so many patients is how they originally delay care due to worry about what seeking medical care costs. That debilitating cycle of “fear” you mentioned often starts before the condition has become critical. The “price” we pay for “health care” today often goes beyond the shamefully inflated costs.

“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”
– Mohandas K. Gandhi

“The tragedy of war is that it uses man’s best to do man’s worst.”
Henry Fosdick

“Peace starts with a smile”
Mother Teresa

“Peace is our gift to each other.”
– Elie Wiesel

“Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind…War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.”
– John F. Kennedy

“War is as outmoded as cannibalism, chattel slavery, blood-feuds, and dueling, an insult to God and humanity…a daily crucifixion of Christ.”
Muriel Lester

“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime”
Ernest Hemingway

“More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars — yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower

“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.”
– Abraham Lincoln

“There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.”
– A.J. Muste.

“I would say that I’m a nonviolent soldier. In place of weapons of violence, you have to use your mind, your heart, your sense of humor, every faculty available to you…because no one has the right to take the life of another human being.”
Joan Baez

“Imagine all the people living life in peace.
You may say I’m a dreamer,
but I’m not the only one.
I hope someday you’ll join us,
and the world will be as one.”
– John Lennon

“If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. he lived, thought, and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony. We may ignore him at our own risk”.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

“One of the most persistent ambiguities that we face is that everybody talks about peace as a goal. However, it does not take sharpest-eyed sophistication to discern that while everybody talks about peace, peace has become practically nobodys’ business among the power-wielders. Many men cry Peace! Peace! but they refuse to do the things that make for peace.”
Martin Luther King,Jr.

Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty.
Mahatma Gandhi

“Whether humanity will consciously follow the law of love, I do not know. But that need not disturb me. The law will work just as the law of gravitation works, whether we accept it or not. The person who discovered the law of love was a far greater scientist than any of our modern scientists. Only our explorations have not gone far enough and so it is not possible for everyone to see all its workings.”
Mahatma Gandhi

“The Holy Prophet Mohammed came into this world and taught us: ‘That man is a Muslim who never hurts anyone by word or deed, but who works for the benefit and happiness of God’s creatures. Belief in God is to love one’s fellow men.’”
Abdul Ghaffar Khan

“The essence of nonviolence is love. Out of love and the willingness to act selflessly, strategies, tactics, and techniques for a nonviolent struggle arise naturally. Nonviolence is not a dogma; it is a process.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

“If we just worry about the big picture, we are powerless. So my secret is to start right away doing whatever little work I can do. I try to give joy to one person in the morning, and remove the suffering of one person in the afternoon. If you and your friends do not despise the small work, a million people will remove a lot of suffering. That is the secret. Start right now.”
Sister Chän Khöng

“We, the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal right of men and women and of nations large and small….And for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors…have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.”
Preamble, Charter of the United Nations.

download it and listen to it with any media player.

Several health care providers that I have worked with have mentioned that they notice a correlation with me between my emotional state and my experience of pain. Being a fairly emotional person (okay extremely emotional and quickly sequencing through emotions at times…) it is hard to know what comes first. Is my pain increased (for whatever reason), causing my depression or hopelessness (or fear) to increase? or am I in a funk of any kind, making me more susceptible to feeling my pain and not only that, but having that pain EFFECT me more negatively than it might if I’m feeling great and stable?

I am still searching for these answers which may never be found…potentially it’s not always the same cycle but different combinations of occurances. Damn-people are so complicated!

Certainly though, it is more and more recognized that the mind is a powerful tool to controlling or dealing with pain. Biofeedback, visual imagery, meditation, and other types of energy work show many people the way through their fear and out of parts of their pain.

Coming to terms with limitations is never easy and seems to be an ongoing process. This idea of noticing the fear, saying thanks but no thanks, and sending it on it’s way seems like a great tool to try.
Thanks to fearless Sue!

We are like lightening that strikes a tree, the branch falls and dams the river. We are like the beaver and we are like the ant. We are a part of nature that builds and rearranges. I see us going way to far sometimes, and there are places that hurt my heart when I look down upon them. But when I look to the city I see something of beauty and I know that most of what I see has happened in the last 100 years. I think to myself – if we are wise enough and can truly learn how we are a part of nature – we are capable of remarkable things.

I love how clear you are about the dam going away. Eventually the dam will be integrated back into the ecosystem rather than dominating it. Two weeks ago I saw something wonderful. Giant artillery foundations that had fallen from above on the Cliffside to the beach below at the WWI / WWII army outpost at Fort Funston (now a place where people go to walk their dogs on the beach). Little ecosystems were forming around them embracing them – using them as they would the other rocks along the beach. The old iron was being claimed again, the cement was eroding letting free its pebbles. These examples of our own power are like the child’s sandcastle on the beach of the true building and rearranging power of the natural world.

Like George Carlen is found of saying. “Save the planet. Please! The planet will shake us off like minor case of the fleas. Save yourself people!” Somehow it is comforting to know that everything I make will eventually become star dust again. Mmmm

Secondly, have you read Fast Food Nation. Check it out and you will see how close Disney and McDonalds are.

Finally I have wrestled with an issue I would love to discuss with other people at some point and maybe this is as good a forum as any. At heart I am an anarchist, but I know that in my life I will not live in an anarchist society. If I am watchful and courageous I might create some of this in my family, community and the company(s) I help start and grow.

I also believe that capitalism (including the evolution of the corporation), socialism and social democracies have key roles in our social evolution towards such an ideal situation as anarchy. The Disneys of the world are creating cultures much like other corporations, and I believe there are some virtues here as well as some detriments. One virtue is that Disney crosses cultures and socio economic boundaries like few other cultures. As cheesey as it is – “It’s a Small World” was one of the first multicultural experiences I remember and to see the harmony of song and dance across these cultures has always stayed with me.

Don’t get me wrong I had friends who worked at Disneyland in college and I remember the stories of the oppressive and exceedingly strict environment, and I agree with your statements about the ruthlessness of advertising and marketing fields. In time I believe we will see lawsuits much like those currently being aimed at the tobacco industries and that will emerge against the fast food industries. When we reach a place where the psychological aggressiveness of these global advertising and marketing firms and their associated research firms is truly considered, there will be a massive backlash. Look a few blogs down and you can see one of the current areas where this is already happening – body image.

So my struggle lies in how to embrace what is good in our current system of capitalism and the corporations that are so prevalent in our day to day lives, without succumbing to the abuses. How do I encourage, through my purchases and my voice, the virtues and constructive values of these organizations and systems, without becoming too attached to them as to depend on their continuance?

I would be curious to get others perspective here. How do we encourage one another to act responsibly within the system while trying to improve it?

Our family is going to Disneyland in October and we are going down for a few days to watch our nieces and nephews run around the park. I know the joy on these kids face and the memorable experience will draw me back to my own memories of the park, though I understand it has changed since then. I will go both to experience and to observer – even more so since I read your blog Eric. Thanks for the ideas – very well thought out and crafted. I would love to hear how you and others wrestle with these challenges.

As a very heavy woman, I have struggled with the Fat Liberation movement, not wanting to identify with it, but feeling like I lack courage when I avoid it. One of my students did her research on women who have RESISTED negative body image messages, and one of her research participants was the woman who wrote the book FAT!SO? (www.fatso.com)–when I went to the site and found a bunch of fat butts, I realized that these butts looked a lot like the butt of the Venus of Willendorf (http://witcombe.sbc.edu/willendorf/willendorfdiscovery.html)
the oldest goddess figure ever found. She was the epitome of female beauty at the time, and I have a figure of her on my dresser to remind me that, had I been born another time, I would fit right in. Another important input to me has been the Healthy at Every Size movement, which combats the stereotype that heavy people can’t be healthy. Because we can’t control a lot of the input that we receive about our bodies, it’s important to bolster ourselves with positive images and messages.

I wonder about the liberty vs safety idea. I have really seen, since 9/11, the Amerikan people hunkering down, fearful, giving up their freedoms without a fight. I think most believe that W is trying to provide safety. On the other hand, I believe W and his cronies have a very clear plan to limit liberty in this country by keeping people afraid. How do we blow the whistle on this travesty?

Thich Nhat Hanh (nominated by Martin Luther King for the Nobel Peace Prize) said of the Monks’ self immolation:

“Suicide is an act of self-destruction, having as causes the following: (1) lack of courage to live and to cope with difficulties; (2) defeat by life and loss of all hope; (3) desire for nonexistence….. The monk who burns himself has lost neither courage nor hope; nor does he desire nonexistence. On the contrary, he is very courageous and hopeful and aspires for something good in the future. He does not think that he is destroying himself; he believes in the good fruition of his act of self-sacrifice for the sake of others…. I believe with all my heart that the monks who burned themselves did not aim at the death of their oppressors but only at a change in their policy. Their enemies are not man. They are intolerance, fanaticism, dictatorship, cupidity, hatred, and discrimination which lie within the heart of man.”

I think also there must be called forward that these acts of simultaneous suicide and homicide are at their very center violent acts. Any faithful person would say that God or Allah or any Devine being is discriminating and has a propensity towards justice. One might argue that the concepts of justice, mercy, love, truthfulness, beauty, goodness find their unspeakable origins in the Devine. These acts as they are not discriminating of the innocence of guilt of the strangers that are killed make them impure acts.

More than these aspirations for purity seen in these acts of self immolation and suicide / homicide bombings – I note the efforts of those who serve as most pure. The mother Teresas, the MLKs the Ghandis – those who would dedicate their lives to change for those who can not make that change themselves seem the most pure to me.

To me this is the most profound difference between the two – not that one has taken a life or lives and the other has not. But that these pure servants of their fellow beings and of their highest beliefs were willing to spend the time and energy at being the purity they desired to see in the world, and while they certainly risked and some lost their life, they did not loose site of what they were working for.

“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

April 3, 1968
On the eve of a protest march for striking garbage workers in Memphis, Tenn., King gave this darkly prescient speech. The next day he was assassinated.
The whole speech http://www.afscme.org/about/kingspch.htm

Thanks for those great links and encouraging words, Andrei! I’m forwarding some of the links to my aunt to look at with her 10 year old daughter.

And thank you, Eric, for participating in this discussion. Video games, much like food or gossip or compulsive exercise, are one of those insidious, socially acceptable addictions. Congrats to you for realizing that you needed a break to re-evaluate their position in your life. Everything in moderation.

The reporter did not sensationalize it, or press people by making fantastic statements to drum up emotion, simeply asked for how they were dealing with it and if they had concerns.

It was refreshing. Fear had already turned into resolve to stay the course of their normal lives.

I think rational leadreship promotes the normalizing of new situations in the face of disaster. If one is to deal with a disaster or crisis one must first accept where they are and recognize the things that are still normal or can be made so rather easily. From this there can be a rebuilding. Leadership that frightens is clearly not in touch with the virtues of human persistance in the face of adversity.

Here are some cool sites too I especially like this next one.

Love Your Body Day! http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/index.html This site is awesome – lots of information for people wanting to get informed on this issue and who want to find some solidarity with other women (us men could probably use some of this wisdom too – at least those of us who don’t look like Brad Pitt). Oh and they have a contest every year for a poster for Love Your Body Day http://www.nowfoundation.org/issues/health/lyb/postercontest.html .

Feminists struggle with body image too – http://www.now.org/nnt/fall-2002/lybd.html

Interesting info and some activist links at this page on Peel Public Health http://www.region.peel.on.ca/health/commhlth/bodyimg/media.htm

Media Awareness promotes critical thinking in young people about the media and they have a nice little spot on this issue http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_beauty.cfm Also they have some of the stereotypes for minorities and other specific groupings.

Thanks Shelby for this great first blog – give us more. Your voice is a wonderful addition to the Driving Socrates community. Welcome.

All my life I’ve played video games. Obsessively. Compulsively, even. And I’m a programmer, so I type all the time. For about 3 years I’ve suffered pain in my wrists, arms and hands. Finally, I had to give up playing video games. Three years ago I if you had said to me that video games are like crack I would have told you that’s an exaggeration. Today, I need only think back on all the times I continued to play them while still in desperate pain to realize how accurate the analogy really is.

But video games can also be part of that “trash media”, and the point I’m trying to make here is that when I finally did throw them away, I found myself with time on my hands. Instead of using the time to rot in front of a screen, I’ve tried to use it to explore myself and my life. I’ve read more, I’ve done more, and I actually feel like a much more “whole” person for it.

I’m trying to fix my hands, and I desperately want to play video games again, but I know now that if that day ever comes, they will be just one part of my life, not its central, defining characteristic. It’s about moderation, I think. Trash is an escape, a treat to savor once in a while like chocolate. We need it, but if it becomes the center of our diet, we become unhealthy.

Any definition of successful progress to a new system of social order must first break the boundaries of its predecessor. So if as a country, the United States, is the place where that boundary will be broken it is all the better for us and it makes sense that it would be here first. We have the resources to survive such an event.

I do relish the idea that the reason why we are declining is because of not having a strong central leader. I believe that our strongest leaders are ourselves – that we are born to govern ourselves and that when we are at our best we are capable of it. However, I am of the mind that there are still many chances to avoid a decline and instead involve ourselves in a transition from the excesses and abuses we are currently bemoaning as progressive minded people.

In fact that is our responsibility as people of privilege. I would challenge that our luxury and knowledge provide us with the ability to really look into the questions that are put forward here. Not only in preparation for a disastrous decline, but also a transition to a more life centered value system (as opposed to a monetary value system). I remain convinced that this transition can not come from a single strong leader. It is a transition that must be created by each of us.

During Gandhi’s revolution, people took on the simple act of learning to make their own clothes and their own salt. He knew that the experience of doing for one’s self would teach both self reliance and responsibility. More than this it created a sense of empowerment on a very basic level.

A big leap here – but related – I think before dismissing “corporate” systems we should note that there is much more viability in terms of a global community inherent in models of business than in the more archaic models of government. I have recently picked up a book called Collaborative Entrepreneurship – it espouses the closest thing I have ever seen to a functioning anarchistic yet highly productive and socially responsible. It is as clear a next step as I have seen.

I for one am tired of lack of imagination in both the existing governmental models as well as in the rebel anarchists who would tear things down. We are here. We have worked hard to get here and there is much good in building from here. So yeah let’s learn some new skills and make this transition as quickly, as painlessly and as responsibly as possible.

Build an Arc – the waters are about to flow.

I commend you on your posting and have recently got in touch with stuff from my childhood. I would like to share with you my feelings. As much as we do not like to admit it, I believe that we do repeat our experiences in life, not matter how bad they seem. This is not to say that someone should be excused for their actions based on their past, only that we should find it in our hearts to show them compassion. When we suppress our feeling they will end up getting out one way or another. The pain that we have experienced in our lifes will continue to stay with us as long as we hold onto it. Just saying that we let it go without really dealing with the issue does not make it disappear. It sometimes takes years and even lifetimes to clean up our shit. When you spoke about your friend getting very angry when you told him, could it have been that he was mirroring the anger that is inside of you?
I wish you the best with your journey through life.
Love,
KF

In fact, poor women have always worked outside the home, and until the feminist movement middle class married and single women had trouble getting jobs with decent wages or choices. In 1972, women made 52 cents for every dollar men made. Today, if a woman chooses to or has to work, she makes more like 75 cents, I think. This means that without the feminist movement, when the economy shifted and made it impossible for middle class families to raise children with only one parent working, the middle class working mom (who HAD to work, often for necessities, not luxuries) was lucky to be able to afford child care on her salary. Your mom would have had to struggle less today than she did when you were little because of the increase (not equality yet, but definitely an improvement) in salaries for women.

I do not see the feminist movement as responsible for the “me” orientation you described. I’m sure there are many complicated factors that have contributed to this–some would say Dr. Spock, in his childraising book in the 50s, ushered in the age of permissiveness. I suspect there are numerous societal contributors to this problem. As a psychologist, I see a lot of parents who were harshly disciplined and abused in childhood who don’t want to abuse their children in the name of discipline but don’t know what else to do, so don’t set appropriate limits. A society that would provide greater support and education for parents would be incredible, wouldn’t it? Good parenting strategies, including setting limits without physically disciplining kids, are extremely effective.

As a feminist, I would say that the Women’s Liberation Movement helped me out of being “me” focused and gave me a huge sense of responsibility for the world in which I live, for building community, and for contributing to a world in which my children would also contribute. I am so proud to see them doing that, carrying on our traditions of community building, preserving the planet and its resources for future generations.

Sue

In addition to thorns caused by pettiness and defensiveness, I believe that there are those that pierce most deeply that come from trauma–abuse, verbal or physical or sexual; a childhood/lifetime of receiving love only conditionally; racism/ sexism/ heterosexism/ classism/ ablism/ looksism/ anti-Semitism/ all the other isms–that are nontrivial and also so resistant to being healed. Being in a relationship with/ trying to love a person with unhealed trauma can be very painful because of the possibility of rejection. It takes great courage to walk with that person in love.

Andrei, I admire your courage. Many would not be able to get past the place within themselves that operates from fear…fear of old patterns, fear of being hurt yet again, fear of an absence of love in the exchanges with their estranged brother, sister, mother or father…no matter what the consequences of missing out on this visit. It seems that you very solidly and purposefully identified yourself with that part of you that comes from love and gratitude prior to taking this trip. I hope that the rest of your trip was as valuable as the first part. To come to a place where you can say the things that you’ve said is a tremendous accomplishment. Kudos to you.

It was a good day in the desert. OK, so part of the reason why it was a good day in the desert was because it was spent inside in the air conditioning rather than in the 110 degree heat, but minor details.

My day with my father (incidentally his birthday) went as well as it could have gone. We virtually spent the entire day talking, philosophizing and catching up. There was no awkwardness and no anger. Just time together. I am going back today – whatever happens this trip has already been worth it.

resolve to evolve is a fine thing. now let’s start roping more folks into our discussions, eh. I wonder if we might get mister eD involved in keeping us honest?

First – thanks for the thanks. I am glad to see so many new voices coming onto Driving Socrates. I think we are at an exciting time, and agree with you that places like this have a key role in being the change we wish to see in the world – as they say.

Secondly – I loved this – I will be looking over the essays and entertaining a purchase of the book. I think you really touched on a central challenge we have before us. That of reclaiming the use of language. I think much of the progressive movements – in the US in particular – are fettered with a postmodern flatland where all words and ideas are equal and nothing ever suggests something is intolerable besides intolerance. So in this light, I had a few elephants of my own to offer:

-couch potatoes
-rise up

And my favorite right now…

Impeach

Keep up the great blogs – your voice is both welcomed and appreciated and admired. Peace and Good Things – Andrei

I was able to find this link of bad Bush appointments:

http://www.knowthecandidates.org/ktc/BushGang/BushTragicAppoints1.htm

In the reformation, Martin Luther spread information that had been hidden behind ancient languages like Greek and Hebrew or behind the language of the educated Latin through the creation of a written language in the native tongue of the people he served. He used the recently invented printing press to set free the words of the bible – information that had been used to oppress people. He put theology in the hands of individuals.

Similarly we are now being handed a technology that is radically shifting the information power structure. Like with the printing, press the question must be asked. What will we do with this technology? I do believe that Driving Socrates is in keeping with the promise of this technology and allows us to build connections with our global community. It will rely on each and every one of us to build the integrity of the channel and respect one another, so that we ourselves are not prone to attack. It is an exciting and humbling responsibility and privilege. I feel amongst a good community already and am looking forward to expanding it with our good work.

I see the point quite clearly: people should not use their faith, which by definition cannot be substantiated, as a basis for enforcing particular choices upon other people. Your faith should not rule my life. I think this makes perfect sense.

Of course, the problem is that to many, the idea of applying religious faith to law for the common good makes as much sense as the idea of applying law to international peace does to me. What is wrong, I think, is that faith is too often taught without tolerance. This, I believe, is a side-effect of the “viral” nature of religion. It spreads like wildfire by crude but effective mechanisms, such as making a clear distinction between the “saved” (redeemed) and the “damned” (inherently evil), and by making marketing (spread the good word!) a fundamental tenet of the church. To many “faithful”, those who have no faith are a dangerous, uncaring aspect of society. To them, the idea of policy without faith is nonsensical.

The challenge will be to make all people realize they can accomplish the same ends through different means, and with different faiths, or even no faiths at all. As soon as politicians like Mr. Bush stop using (abusing) faithful groups for their own gain, this might start to happen. But since it’s been like this for thousands of years, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

As a young man I once asked a conservative Christian theologian what God was doing before the universe was created. He repeated the words offered by a reformation theologian some 500 years earlier, “He was sitting under a tree carving a switch to use on people who ask such questions.” Not so compassionate as your childhood parish priest but a similar spirit of turning off young minds to fact seeking questions.

I do believe that faith has a core part to play in our development as individuals and as a species, but those who would reengage in a battle of faith against fact are problems that we should be very tired of by this point. I mean how long must the inquisitions, witch hunts, red scares, and crusades go on before we wake up and realize that one persons faith should never be used for or against another. I would love to see more on this topic. Thanks Danny Boy.

Sustained sexual abuse, physical abuse, living in a family with depressed parents or addicted parents, etc. – these all shape us. At this point it is established that your brain actually becomes wired to work a certain way based on your repeated experiences – i.e. if you grow up in a place where no one ever laughs – the part of your brain that communicates happiness biochemically is not developed. This would be the equivalent of being told by your parents never to use your right arm. Your muscles become under developed and then when you grow up and head out into the world you find out that yes you have a choice now to use it. You can decide to, but most likely even with sustained commitment to using your arm, it will take some time to actually be able to use it like everyone else. And at that point maybe there is permanent damage and you never quite get to use it as well as other people.

In addition, many personality disorders are formed at young ages when living in abusive situations. Even amongst mental health professionals, people with some of these personalities are considered almost beyond repair.

Beyond this there is learned behavior such as physical violence. You called it out – a boy who grows up with a violent father will himself be much more likely to be a perpetrator of domestic violence. With so little in the way of community and correctional resources, many of these multiple generations of men simply continue to pass on this learned behavior.

Then there is the question of why some people can survive certain traumas in relatively good shape and some can not. This is a subject of great study, but the fact is that while one person may be able to live a relatively normal life after growing up in an abusive home, another growing up in that same home may become a drug addict and end up on the streets.

So while I do share your call for personal responsibility – this is the basis of self governance which I believe is the ideal form of governance – I think it is important to recognize that there is a significant portion of the human population that will never be able to get over it. And still another part of the population that will get over it through the passion and commitment of those who know better and can offer a hand to show them a different world where these sorts of decisions and choices to be responsible are possible.

Of course not a word I have said should indicate that I am not in awe of you and your ability to survive and find strength to be a responsible person. Thanks for sharing – I love the fire you have V. Thanks for sharing it with us.

I couldn’t agree more with your point. Today, if it’s not your parent’s fault then you obviously have some disease, right? If not, big pharma would go right out of business.

I just wish Watergate never happened, so we wouldn’t call every scandal a friggin “-gate”.