Nov 10 2007
An America that tortures is not my America.
An America that denies healthcare to its citizens is not my America.
An America run by amoral corporations and corrupt politicians for the exclusive benefit of the few at the expense of the many is not my America.
An America that drops bombs on innocent babes, fabricates elaborate lies to cheat, steal and justify bogus wars of aggression is not my America.
Nov 04 2007
I was eleven in ’63…when they killed John Kennedy. That was the end of my innocence, and the end of America’s too.
I shouted out,
“Who killed the Kennedys?”
When after all
It was you and meRolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil
Oct 28 2007
I headed off to the “staging area,” which was Judkins Park, in a quiet area of town mostly populated by minorities. Participants organized with their respective groups, mostly “usual suspects” (ie. committed and brave and patriotic in the best sense of caring truly about humanity) BUT with a notable lack of community participation. If 60% or more oppose the war nationally, and 90% or so here in Seattle before it even started, where were the rest?
Why was it that I counted ONE BUS (belonging to “Pastors for Peace,” who travel to Cuba, Mexico, Central America – though not necessarily in the bus) but on the way home I counted MORE THAN NINETY busses of University of Washington football fans? I know that football is immensely popular in the fall and tailgate parties are a tradition, along with Jack’o’Lanterns but what about our country? Our future?
The rally was intended to go from Judkins Park down (or up) Jackson Street to Occidental Square, which may not mean anything to someone who doesn’t live in Seattle. To me though, it is a traditional labor march route, much as the one from Place de Nation to Place de Republique has been in Paris, via the site of the storming of the Bastille. In both cases, the routes are now off to the side of the zones of commerce, and the populist marches for justice no longer seem to strike fear in the hearts of the bourgeoise. In both instances, the media appears to be aligned with the increasingly more right-leaning government, contrary to what the far right says.
It seem, like Tom Hayden warns, that the antiwar movement was discouraged from developing after 9/11, through the use of fear. Once it developed, a huge PR campaign has been forged on the right, to try to marginalize protesters as “goofy.” Indeed, I did a “search” for antiwar at MySpace and found military spouses who wanted protesters to impale themselves on the sticks of their protest signs. Pressed further, some of them still appeared to believe the 9/11-Saddam link or that civil warring factions were intending to somehow head through the skies to attack rural America.
More pictures below- ek
Oct 21 2007
I posted this on big orange, but it is probably better suited for DD.
Having to travel this week, I picked up a Time magazine for some low impact mental aerobics. Thumbing through the October 22 edition, I came across an article by Andrew Marshall, entitled “Anatomy of a Failed Revolution.” The subhead was depressing:
A correspondent looks back on a week of hope and despair in Burma’s brief, shining – but ultimately doomed – uprising
I could feel the despair rising in my own chest as I prepared to digest one man’s post-mortem of yet another attempt by repressed people to peacefully attempt regime change. We know the Buddhist monks chanted the mantra:
Let everyone be free from harm
Let everyone be free from anger
Let everyone be free from hardship
We know the monks were gunned down in cold blood.
Oct 13 2007
I’ve been buzzing all day about Al Gore winning the Nobel prize!
I went to Google news and found he’s been the Dominator today, but at the bottom I found Sri Chinmoy!
Al Gore / Nobel Prize 3,499 news articles
Obama v Clinton 344 news articles
Astronauts 1148
HIV drug 276
Armenia/Turkey Vote 2118
Putin v US / Nuclear treaty 1,350
Bhutto/Musharraf Powersharing 615
Latin American Free Trade 298
Sri Chinmoy Died 175
I have a tin box that I keep special things in and one of them is a little red heart pillow from Sri Chinmoy.
I got it from a Persian Sufi named Hossein Foruzani who got up to go for a 5 AM run along Lake Washington with Sri Chimnoy. I went to see Sri Chimnoy at Kane Hall, University of Washington. He was carried in on a pillow by his entourage, and played God-inspired flute and painted spontaneously.
(inspired by Sri Chinmoy)
Forty-Six
My blue-red heart shall face ignorance-base,
My blue-red heart shall face.
My green-white life shall fly
in oneness-sky,
My green-white life shall fly.
Sri Chinmoy (divinely inspired poem)
I read about Sri Chimnoy in the New York Post, which if I’m not wrong is a tabloid, and also the New York Times.
More about the wierd Sri Chimnoy, from the New York Times:
. born in India
. used strenuous exercise and art to spread message of world harmony and inner piece
. died at a concert
. was able to power lift pickup trucks
. lifted Muhammad Ali and Sting
. said he drew 16 million “peace birds”
. slept only 90 minutes a day
. wrote 1500 books, 115,000 poems, 20,000 songs, 200,000 paintings, gave 800 peace concerts
. advocated seemingly impossible physical challenges
. was an inspiration for Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis
. was guru to John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu Orchestra (a name he came up with) as well as Roberta Flack!
. had more than 7000 disciples when he died
. came from Bangladesh to NYC and worked as a clerk at the Indian consulate
. swam the English channel
. ran a 3100 mile race every year
. began lifting weights after a knee injury and lifted schoolhouses, airplanes and pickup trucks
. He also lifted Jesse Jackson, Eddie Murphy, Susan Sarandon, Yoko Ono, Desmond Tutu and Richard Gere as well as 20 Nobel Laureates and a team of sumo wrestlers, not to mention Sid Caesar and a (reformed) headhunter from Bornea.
. He lifted a Democrat (Representative Gary Ackerman) and a Republican (Representative Benjamin Gilman) at the same time, possibly his most amazing feat.
. Condolence letters were sent by both Mikhail Gorbachev and Al Gore.
The Dark Side of Sri Chimnoy, from The New York Post:
. He was just a “creepy Queens guru”
. he ran a “cult”
. he cased “disturbing personality changes” in members
. he ordered dreamy-eyed female followers to engage in exploitive sexcapades
. he summoned them for extended sex romps
. he ordered them to have sex with other women while he watched
. he paid for one’s abortion after he got her pregnant
. he was called “vindictive” by Carlos Santana, who jumped ship in 2000, and said, “He told all my friends not to call me ever again, because I was to drown in a dark sea of ignorance for leaving him.”
. he brainwashed people, according to cult deprogrammer Rick Ross
. he had a disciple who drowned in his own bathtub trying to perfect a stunt to impress him for a circus
. he had followers who tried to get attention by breaking records such as for underwater juggling, piggyback riding and balancing a pool cue on one finger
. he airbrushed pictures to exaggerate his weight-lifting prowess, according to his former photographer
. He died while waiting to hear if he’d won the Nobel Peace Prize for his “ceaseless efforts” with the United Nations (Chinmoy led a meditation group at the U.N. building). He didn’t.
(photo by D. Grieser)
Oct 12 2007
I’m finding it really difficult to write lately. Instead, I’ll offer some pictures and some words from others. Forgive me.
 |
Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one. Martin Heidegger |
Oct 07 2007
maybe we could just use the internet to promote peace amongst ourselves, the ordinary everyday people. like between me and armando. he sought me out to have peace in our relationship. it shook me up a little and convinced me this can be done.
i was at pff yesterday. all in all, a very exhausting but very worthwhile experience. some people there feel they are owed an apology. tell me, do we need to negotiate who will be the first to drop their weapons? or do we just do it, and let go of sorting out who started what or why. can we do it without assigning blame and asking for anything in return. even if we are turned out, not welcomed. can we pursue peace there?
it seems to me if desire is the root of the problem then in this case, it’s the desire to be right or to be acknowledged as right. what if that’s exactly what is wrong?
one last thing. maybe this peace thing is just a simple as bypassing governments. maybe we can achieve peace, from one person to the next by “paying it forward” and acknowledging that is what is happening. and the internet can facilitate this. maybe it will end up with warring factions going to each others web sites and asking for peace. ridiculous? maybe. but maybe not.
armando started with me. i brought that to some others.
no letters to write or e-mail petitions to sign. nothing to buy or donate to. just make peace with somebody you’ve been at war with and then ask them to do the same.
Robyn knows about this… her story has stuck with me about her siblings.
Sep 12 2007
Thank you Joan Baez!
This diary is to express my admiration for Joan Baez, to thank her for all she has done, and to draw inspiration from her for the struggles that lie ahead. Joan’s singing can fill me with the sublimest emotion and her voice and spirit have shepherded me through trial and tribulation over a lifetime punctuated by tragedy – as all of ours are. Her voice washes through my troubled soul like a river of grace and mercy. And one can’t help but admire and be moved by her personal courage and commitment to humanitarian and progressive causes. She has not only fought, but has led us through many righteous battles. She is a warrior for humanity, possessing the voice of an angel and the heart of a lion.
Aug 28 2007
It’s not often that genuinely good news comes out of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Today, there is some. It’s small, but it’s huge.
As the Associated Press reports:
Palestinian police rescued an Israeli soldier Monday after he mistakenly drove into this West Bank town and was surrounded by a mob that later burned his car. Israel praised the rescue as a sign of the growing strength of Palestinian moderates.