Peaced Together

ARMISTICE DAY MESSAGE

2010-11-10T04:21:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

VETERANS FOR PEACE ARMISTICE DAY MESSAGE

Remains from the WWI Battle of Verdun

November 11 is a cause for mixed emotions among those former members of the military who wish to permanently halt the horror of war.

A holiday in our name is indeed an honor, as was our service itself, but “Armistice” somehow still sounds more suitable. That word refers to the end of a conflict, the end of the killing, the maiming, the destruction, the inhumanity, the erosion of civilized personal behaviors that have taken centuries to mold. While “Armistice” does not connote lasting peace, at least it does connote a chance for societies to grasp hold of themselves and, if able, to pull back from the abyss.

Veterans For Peace, while grateful for the parades recognizing our duty and the ultimate sacrifice of our fallen comrades, would prefer a time of reexamination of the jaded justifications and obscene outcomes of the military causes we served. All too frequently those justifications have been morally insufficient to vindicate the malevolent international conflicts to which they gave such ignoble birth.

For these reasons Veterans For Peace gratefully acknowledges the heartfelt recognition which our nation solemnly offers us today. But we fervently urge that tomorrow our great nation devote its equally heartfelt and solemn attention and talents to the cessation of existing wars and to the prevention of similar calamities in the decades to come.

Kurt Vonnegut, the internationally acclaimed author from our country and a POW in Dresden during the Allied firebombing of that city in WWII, gives us something to think about on this day of remembrance.

"…November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy all the people of all the nations which fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I've talked to old men who were on the battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.

Armistice Day has become Veteran's Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veteran's Day is not…Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things."

> View a list of VFP's Armistice Day events
> Add your VFP Chapter Sponsored event to this list

KarmaTube: How Do You Want To Be Remembered?

2010-05-08T02:50:00.000-07:00

KarmaTube: How Do You Want To Be Remembered?
and the book... Born to Be Good. Hmmmm.

dream great things

2010-04-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

I dream of peace. I dream of acceptance. I dream of wonder and innocence. I dream of humanity being humane. I dream of unity. I dream of walking the world, safe, treasured, welcomed. I dream. I persevere. Power to the dreamers.

An Interview with Jane Elliott

2010-04-04T00:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/crusade.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02p66&continuous=1l

Lost Generation

2010-02-09T00:30:00.001-08:00

nice. very nice.

J.K. Rowling Commencement Speech at Harvard '08

2010-02-02T00:08:00.000-08:00

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

Generation M

2010-01-24T01:01:00.000-08:00

not so much an age as a mindset... either way, i like it.

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/haque/2009/07/today_in_capitalism_20_1.html

I love this tree...

2010-01-24T00:21:00.000-08:00

the tree of life
undergrowth.com

illustration, 2007
by Tim Parish

Nickelback - If Everyone Cared

2009-12-29T08:07:00.001-08:00

Especially inspiring this morning... not that I am expecting a peace prize or creating a worldwide movement anytime soon... but I begin to wonder sometimes if effort, hopes, and caring can ever make a difference. The answer is... yes, of course it can. No need to wait until the "new year" tomorrow night, find what inspires you to take action and begin TODAY and renew your commitment each day after that.

Community Lawyers, Inc. promotional video 11-08-2009 YouTube

2009-11-20T01:52:00.001-08:00

interesting and inspiring

Dancing Queen

2009-11-17T04:02:00.001-08:00

(Part 1) Indigenous Native American Prophecy (Elders Speak part 1)

2009-11-14T01:12:00.001-08:00

Washington DC Human Rights City

2009-11-11T13:36:00.001-08:00

Washington DC Human Rights City

Claudio Schuftan Washington DC Human Rights City">cschuftan at phmovement.org
Thu Jan 1 18:31:03 PST 2009

Next message: PHA-Exch> Food for a pro-poor yet not pro-human rights thought
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]

On December 10, 2008

WASHINGTON DC DECLARED

A HUMAN RIGHTS CITY

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) remains a
beacon of human values. That is why we have placed such emphasis on ongoing
learning, at the community level about human rights as a way of life. It puts
in the hands of women and men, youth and children a deep understanding of
what human rights means in education, health, food, housing human security,
sustainability and livelihoods. It provides the essence of human dignity. By
building on this powerful force, human rights cities learn and dialogue
about the relevance of human rights to people's daily lives and contributes
to the community initiating actions that are informed by the holistic human
rights framework.

December 10, 2008 marked the 60th anniversary of the UDHR. On this
day, citizens of the nation's capital led by individuals and organizations
affirmed their commitment to human rights by declaring Washington, D.C. a *
Human** Rights City-* that is in the process of realizing human rights.**

A Human Rights City is one whose residents and local authorities,
through discussions and creative exchange of ideas, come to understand that
human rights when widely known as a way of life, assists in identifying the
issues and informs actions needed for meaningful, positive economic and
social change. As a *Human Rights City*, Washington, D.C. will be joining
other human rights cities around the world where its dwellers have
undertaken learning to claim their human rights. **

*Washington** DC is the first Human Rights City in the United States!*

This effort was *facilitated* by: *PDHRE, People's Movement for Human
Rights Education (www.pdhre.org) and the* *American Friends Service
Committee-D.C.(www.afsc.org) and* *endorsed by* (in progress): * D.C. Office
of Human Rights*, *, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, DC
Jobs With Justice, Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition (Free DC),
Hispanic Congregation National City Christian Church, Fellowship of
Reconciliation/D.C. Chapter, Washington Peace Center, Sociologists without
Borders (partial)*

For more information, contact jikambana at afsc.org or call Jean-Louis Peta
Ikambana at (202) 544-0324.

* *
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Defend our rights!
http://www.bordc.org/involved/sampleclauses.php#minorities

Global Alliance Summit, Costa Rica 2009

2009-10-23T00:57:00.001-07:00

Dance me to the end of love, LEONARD COHEN

2009-08-25T16:43:00.001-07:00

Contagious Love Experiment

2009-08-17T15:11:00.001-07:00

If you're gonna do an experiment, it might as well be on love.

http://contagiousloveexperiment.wordpress.com/about/

Imagine Peace

2009-08-05T02:56:00.000-07:00

Think Peace. Act Peace. Spread Peace. http://imaginepeace.com/news/

http://www.theworldmarch.org/
Welcome, to the international site of the first ever World March that will travel the world asking for the end of wars, the dismantling of nuclear weapons and for an end to all forms of violence (physical, economic, racial, religious, cultural, sexual and psychological).

Be one of the brave and help us to create a new, non-violent global consciousness!

Documentaries

2009-08-01T03:47:00.000-07:00

Prom Night in Mississippi
With actor Morgan Freeman's support, Mississippi's Charleston High School stages its first senior prom to integrate both black and white students. This documentary examines the perspectives of several seniors as they prepare for this historic event. A group of disapproving white parents, who refused to meet and talk with the filmmakers, organized a separate White Prom for their children to attend.

Bastards of the Party
Directed and hosted by Cle Sloan, a former member of Los Angeles' notorious gang, the Bloods, this documentary chronicles the history of black street gangs, from their first appearances in the 1940s to their present-day incarnations. Inspired by Mike Davis's book, City of Quartz, Sloan examines the culture from all sides, drawing on interviews with active and inactive gang members, former FBI agents and prominent community figures.

The YES Men Fix the World
Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno -- two high-minded pranksters known as the Yes Men -- use tomfoolery to highlight the political and economic shenanigans surrounding ecological catastrophes such as the 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India. "Punk'd" meets social commentary as the Yes Men impersonate corporate spokespersons and other authorities, infiltrate media such as the BBC, and expose the moral limitations of government and commerce.

For the Bible Tells Me So
n this Sundance documentary, director Daniel Karslake goes to the Bible to examine the ways in which conservative Christian groups have used -- and sometimes exploited -- holy Scripture to deny basic human rights to gays and lesbians around the world. Highlights include interviews with V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion, and Chrissy Gephardt, the lesbian daughter of former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt.

The Singing Revolution
James and Maureen Castle Tusty's moving documentary recounts Estonia's fight for independence from Soviet occupation, telling the remarkable story of the hundreds of thousands of protestors who gathered in public to voice their dissent through song. After 50 years of rule by the oppressive Soviet regime, the people of Estonia gave life to a grassroots movement for change by staging passionate rallies and singing forbidden patriotic songs.

Coal Country
Increasingly, Big Coal is spelling big trouble for Appalachian communities whose members have worked the mines for generations. This documentary reveals why with its explanation of the effects of mountaintop-removal mining on the region. Miners, coal company officials and area residents weigh in on the high price of "cheap energy" -- especially when it involves blowing off mountain summits to expose seams. Journalist Michael Shnayerson narrates.Coal Country(2009)

Who Killed the Electric Car?
Amid a volatile climate of ever-changing gas prices, this documentary delves into the short life of the GM EV1 electric car -- a fuel-efficient auto that was once all the rage in the mid-1990s and now has fallen by the roadside. How could such a green-friendly vehicle fail to transform lives? Through interviews with government officials, former GM employees and concerned celebs, filmmaker Chris Paine seeks to find out.

Outrage
Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick sets out to expose the hypocrisy of gay politicians who passionately criticize the LGBT community in public while concealing their own sexual orientation. In addition to exposing the secret lives of powerful policymakers -- and the damage they've inflicted on LGBT Americans -- this documentary also takes a critical look at the media's involvement in keeping homophobic politicians closeted.

Sicko
Michael Moore sets his sights on the plight of the uninsured in this Oscar-nominated documentary that uses Moore's trademark humor and confrontational style to ask the difficult questions and get to the truth behind the health care crisis. In the world's richest country, 45 million people have no health insurance, while HMOs grow in size and wealth. Moore also explores the widespread use of antidepressants and their possible link to violence. (Note: this description is slightly inaccurate. =))

Super Size Me
On the heels of recent lawsuits against McDonald's, director Morgan Spurlock takes a hilarious and often terrifying look at the effects of fast food on the human body, using himself as the proverbial guinea pig. For one month, Spurlock eats nothing but McDonald's, ordering everything on the menu and "super-sizing" his order whenever asked. The result is a sobering examination of the line between personal and corporate responsibility.

In Debt We Trust
Filmmaker and former journalist Danny Schechter (WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception) investigates Americans' ongoing love affair with credit cards and the staggering level of personal debt it's created, paying special attention to the relationship between Congress and the credit card industry. In a modern society that's increasingly "financialized," consumer debt is so common that extending credit has become highly lucrative.

descriptions from netflix.com

When you are hungry, eat.

2009-08-01T03:37:00.000-07:00

Within reasonable bounds, you should always seek to care for yourself and meet your own needs. The most compassionate way to care for yourself is to treat yourself the way you would a beloved child. Although it may seem almost too simple, there is great wisdom in the Buddhist phrase, “When you are hungry, eat. When you are tired, sleep.”
- From www.adaptivetherapy.com

Be the Good Samaratin... and then... Be the Good Citizen

2009-07-26T23:48:00.000-07:00

MLK and the Mountain Moving Business
by Jim Wallis 01-13-2009

This post was Jim Wallis’ contribution when invited to write a guest post on the blog for USA Service, a campaign to encourage national service in observance of Martin Luther King Day. In conjunction, Sojourners has created a special site at www.sojo.net/mlk to encourage personal, community, and national commitment to change.

Faith is believing in spite of the evidence and then watching the evidence change.

On the third Monday of January, our country sets aside a day in remembrance of the life and the work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To remember King is to act like him. The change that King led is not contained within museums, monuments, or mausoleums, but lives vibrantly on in the people of social movements — people who believe that, step by step, a divided country can be united and broken spirits can be uplifted.

Sojourners is the country’s leading faith-based advocacy organization that reaches, connects, and mobilizes people of faith from diverse backgrounds. We recognize that the challenges of the economy, the environment, and threats to life and peace across the world look like mountains before us. This is why we are rooted in faith, because faith is in the mountain moving business.

With the great challenges before us, we know that moving mountains takes more than just one day of service. We must remember the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway.

The call to transform our personal and family lives, build up our own communities, and change this country on the really big issues is before each of us now. This might seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Our site and USAservice.org are dedicated to providing resources and connections for people of faith and conscience across the country who are ready to believe in spite of the evidence and then watch the evidence change.

This is a day when Americans will be “Good Samaritans” in thousands of communities across the country, volunteering in service projects of all kinds. I invite you to make a commitment to hope and change — not just for one day, but for a movement, for a lifetime.

------------------------
I agree with Rev. Wallis' invective to emphasize a lifetime commitment... rather than simply urging only a "day of service." While necessary, Dr. King said, it is the "initial act."

"One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed..." and that only happens with activism focused on transforming and changing the structures that create suffering, injustice, and violence.

One World, Many Peaces

2009-05-16T01:05:00.001-07:00

One World, Many Peaces
Current Affairs Creating the Future

Antony Adolf's Blog
Provocative commentary on current affairs aimed at creating a better future- together!

http://www.oneworldmanypeaces.typepad.com/

Peace: A World History
by
Antony Adolf

Dear Colleague,
How peace has been made and maintained, experienced and imagined is not only a matter of historical interest, but also of pressing concern. Peace: A World History is the first study to explore the full spectrum of peace and peacemaking from prehistoric to contemporary times in a single volume aimed at improving their prospects.

Please find a brief description of the book, publication details, its table of contents and links below. Review and examination copies may be available, and the author is available for speaking engagements and workshops in the coming months, please feel free to contact me in these regards.

By focusing on key periods, events, people, ideas and texts, Antony Adolf shows how the inspiring possibilities and pragmatic limits of peace and peacemaking were shaped by their cultural contexts and, in turn, shaped local and global histories. Diplomatic, pacifist, legal, transformative non-violent and anti-war movements are just a few prominent examples.

Proposed and performed in socio-economic, political, religious, philosophical and other ways, Antony Adolf's presentation of the diversity of peace and peacemaking challenges the notions that peace is solely the absence of war, that this negation is the only task of peacemakers, and that history is exclusively written by military victors. "Without the victories of peacemakers and the resourcefulness of the peaceful," he contends, "there would be no history to write."

This book is essential reading for students, scholars, policy-shapers, activists and general readers involved with how present forms of peace and peacemaking have been influenced by those of the past, and how future forms can benefit by taking these into account.

Antony Adolf's Blog: www.oneworldmanypeaces.typepad.com

Publication Details
272 pages ~ January 2009
978-0-7456-4126-3 PB £18.99 ~ $27.95

Available at:
Amazon Barnes and Noble Chapters

To order your copy click here or
Contact John Wiley & Sons Ltd

US and Canada:
Tel: +1 (201) 748 6000
custserv@wiley.com

UK and Rest of World:
Free phone (UK Only): 0800 243407
Overseas callers: +44 1243 843294
cs-books@wiley.co.uk

Table of Contents
Introduction - How Does Peace Have a World History?

Chapter One - Survival of the Peaceful: Prehistory to the First Civilizations
Pre-Human Peace and Peacemaking
Prehistoric Evolutions of Peace
Peace, Peacemaking and the First Civilizations

Chapter Two - Peace in the Ancient West: Egypt, Greece and Rome
A Tale of Two Worlds: Peace and Peacemaking in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Greece, Cradle of Western Peace and Peacemaking?
One Empire, One Peace: The Rise of Rome to the Pax Romana's Decline

Chapter Three - Peace in the Ancient East: India, China and Japan
The Many, the Few, the One: Peace and Peacemaking in Ancient India
Harmonies and Antinomies of Ancient China
Foreign Influences and Native Peace in Japanese History

Chapter Four - Monotheistic Peaces: Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Shalom: Peace in the Torah and its Times
"Our" Universal Peace: From Christ to Constantine
A Pillar of Peace: The Qur'an and its World

Chapter Five - Medieval, Renaissance and Reformation Peaces
A Tale of Two Cities: Medieval Peace and Peacemaking(Re)Births of Peace: Renaissance Revivals of and Departures from Traditions
Reforming Christian Peace and Peacemaking

Chapter Six - Peace, Peacemaking and the Ascent of Nation-States
Intra-National Peace and Peacemaking
Inter-National Peace and Peacemaking
Peace and Peacemaking Despite Nation-States

Chapter Seven - Colonial and Imperial Peace and Peacemaking
Peaces of the World: Colonial Peace and Peacemaking
The World in Peaces: Imperial Peace and Peacemaking

Chapter Eight - Modern Economics of Peace and Peacemaking
Capitalism: The Profitability of Peace and the Cost of War
Who Owns Peace? Socialist Perspectives

Chapter Nine - Peace in the Twentieth Century, Part One: 1900-1949
The "War to End all Wars"The Peace to End all Peace?

Chapter Ten - Peace in the Twentieth Century, Part Two: 1949-1989
Cold War/Hot PeaceOne World, Many Peaces

Chapter Eleven - The Presents of Peace
Globalization: Peace at the End of History
Threatening Opportunities: Terrorism, Technology, New Media and Peace

Conclusion - The Pyramid of Peace: Past, Present and Future

Selected Bibliography
Works Cited
Index

Why isn't everyone a screaming drunk?

2009-05-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

The sun once glimpsed God's true nature
And has never been the same.

Thus that radiant sphere
Constantly pours its energy
Upon this earth
As does He from behind
The veil.

With a wonderful God like that
Why isn't everyone a screaming drunk?

Hafiz's guess is this:

Any thought that you are better or less
Than another
Quickly
Breaks the wine
Glass.

The GIFT Poems By HAFIZ
The Great Sufi Master
Translations By Danile Ladinsky

2009-04-02T02:11:00.000-07:00

"Meeting David Wilson" for confronting our history of slavery. Shows facilitated meetings between descendents of slaves and of slave owners - $19 on Amazon.

"Confrontation" shows victim/offender reconciliation and can be purchased at A & E Television for $25.

"Power of Forgiveness" shows the Amish response to the school shooting and includes Azim Khamisa’s story - $22.49 on Amazon. David Hazen also recommended this one.

"Take" documentary - finishes with information about restorative justice.

what peace will be

2009-04-02T01:48:00.000-07:00

Peace, if it ever exists, will not be based on the fear of war, but on the love of peace. It will not be the abstaining from an act, but the coming of a state of mind. In this sense the most insignificant writer can serve peace, where the most powerful tribunals can do nothing. --Julien Benda

Franciscan Blessing

2009-03-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

Franciscan Blessing

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that you will work for justice, equality and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and change their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done.

"Peace is a Woman's Job"

2009-03-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.peaceisawomansjob.com/index.html

peace of cake

2009-02-10T10:41:00.001-08:00

at www.perpetualkid.com

If Dr. King were alive today...

2009-02-09T21:31:00.000-08:00

gaming for peace

2008-12-10T05:50:00.000-08:00

Virtual Swords to Ploughshares
Duke-developed simulation game looks to train a new generation of peacemakers
http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2008/11/virtualpeace.html

a peace by any other name

2008-11-20T13:55:00.000-08:00

... recalling the words of Walter Cronkite, urging us to "get that word, PEACE, out there" and repeat it again and again until people HEAR it.

... short quotes from Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D. Of Mexican mestiza and Magyar heritages, she comes from immigrant and refugee families who could not read or write. Estés is a certified Jungian psychoanalyst and her book, Women Who Run With the Wolves was on the New York Times Best Seller list for 145 weeks.

"We are all los immigrantes, the Soul is The First Immigrant: The Soul cannot be held back by any imaginary boundary drawn against it; not by mountain ranges, not by rivers, nor by human scorn. The Soul, goes everywhere, like an old woman in her right mind, going anywhere she wishes, saying whatever she wants, bending to mend whatever is within her reach. Wherever she goes, the Soul brings new life." --- from 'The Dangerous Old Woman'

''If you have never been called a defiant, incorrigible, impossible woman… have faith… there is yet time." --- from Women Who Run with the Wolves

"Do not lose heart, we were made for these times...Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.

"I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind.

"Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless.

"In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that.

"There is a tendency too to fall into being weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails. We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear." --- from Letter To A Young Activist During Troubled Times

I want to laugh.

2008-11-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

David Hazen - DOP State Coordinator message board:

"It has been remarked by many throughout the ages that the core of life is joy. Many who have talked about being enlightened describe the state as blissful. At Kataria’s website, www.laughteryoga.org, there is a clip of John Cleese, the famous Monty Python comedian, visiting various laughter clubs in India. Memorably, he says that when people laugh together, it’s very hard for one group to exercise authority over another; it’s the greatest force for democracy.

"Allying our consciousness with this force, easily accessible through twenty minutes of whole-body laughter per day, we make transformation not only possible but easier. When, by contrast, we lose sight of this realization, we use futile means to effect change, for example, bombing terrorists or judging ourselves (making ourselves “feel bad”)."

From The Countless Laughter of the Waves By Peter Moore

The Gettysburg Address

2008-11-19T13:04:00.000-08:00

The Gettysburg Address
Nov. 19, 1863

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal."

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.

It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

This version of the Gettysburg Address has been verified against the version on display at the National Archives.

movie, "Playing for Change - Peace through Music"

2008-11-15T10:24:00.001-08:00

Compassionate Listening

2008-11-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

http://www.compassionatelistening.org/

"If we can change ourselves, we can change the world. We're not the victims of the world we see,we're the victims of the way we see the world. This is the essence of Compassionate Listening:seeing the person next to you as a part of yourself."
- Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Congressman

"God gave us two ears and only one mouth, that we should listen twice as much as we speak." - universal proverb

everyone like you

2008-11-15T09:19:00.000-08:00

"If everyone was exactly like you, you would end up getting on your nerves."
~Homero Bayarena

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

2008-11-10T12:18:00.000-08:00

An Open Letter to Barack Obama
http://www.theroot.com/id/48726
By Alice Walker TheRoot.com

Alice Walker on expectations, responsibilities and a new reality that is almost more than the heart can bear.

Nov. 5, 2008

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker

The Anti-Wedding

2008-09-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

When two intrepid women set out to slay the Wedding Industrial Complex, things get complicated fast

The Anti-Wedding
One brave couple let two intrepid Washington Post Magazine reporters plan their nuptials. The result? An unusual and unforgettable wedding.

» Links to this article
By Caitlin Gibson and Rachel Manteuffel
Sunday, September 7, 2008; Page W12

It starts with a couple of young women talking about weddings.

Only we aren't fawning over centerpieces or debating roses versus lilies or scrutinizing every hemline of the perfect pastel bridesmaid dress. In fact, we are talking about how centerpieces and pastel bridesmaid dresses make us want to puke all over those dyed-to-match satin shoes.

It's personal. We want revenge. We have done multiple tours of bridesmaid duty, and we have witnessed the collateral damage: a relative who sobbed when she dropped lipstick on her wedding gown; the friend who insisted on a last-minute trimming of her bridal bouquet stems; countless women swallowed by the cyberworld of The Knot, a typical bride's No. 1 online source for Everything Wedding.

We are convinced that there is no justification for wedding insanity. We feel qualified to make this judgment as single women who have never been married or engaged, and have never planned an event more complicated than happy hour. But we have seen what happens to some intelligent, strong women when confronted by the multibillion-dollar Wedding Industrial Complex: Those few unattractive tendencies, weaknesses generally kept under control -- bossiness, melodramatic romanticism, obsession with looks, agony over superficial details -- coalesce into a toxic distillate. What chance does anyone have against an industry that seduces the rampaging feminine id? The masses need to be liberated.

What if . . . we become Anti-Wedding Planners? What if we find a couple who shares our opinion and lets us plan their unorthodox, fabulously cheap anti-wedding, located -- we dream -- in a bus depot or a Laundromat? We envision the glorious reversal of typical wedding cliches: the symbolic release of dirty city pigeons in lieu of doves, bouquets of dead leaves, a buffet of peanut butter or grilled-cheese sandwiches. The wedding itself would be a statement, a metaphorical loogie aimed right at the wispy veil of wedding-obsessed America. It must be anti-industry, but pro-romance, because real love means knowing, This is my soul mate, even if (s)he's wearing a garbage bag.

So, we run an ad in Express, the Post-owned commuter freebie, looking for couples. It begins like this:

We hate weddings. Let us plan yours (free).

And couples respond, more than 40 in just five days. We weed out some inquiries simply by clarifying that, yes, an anti-wedding is cheap, but also rebellious, daring, snarky. Then we schedule interviews with couples who seem most promising. The top wedding-haters include 20-somethings as well as 50-somethings; they are Caucasian, African American, Indian, Asian and Hispanic. The winnowing is merciless.

One couple wants motorized toilet-bowl-scooter racing as reception entertainment. Our hearts race, too. But they also want to spend $20,000. They get flushed.

One bride-to-be is proud she has scored a $200 wedding gown. Great! But it's still . . . a gown. Next!

One couple catches our attention with a quirky coincidence: Her name is Jaqi Ross. His name is Chris Rossi. Ross and Rossi live together in . . . Rosslyn. These two, both 34, are open to just about anything, such as getting married in a morgue, Jaqi suggests, or on their living room couch. There will be no lace anywhere near this wedding. Also, she hates flowers.
We are convinced that this is our couple. And then we are rewarded with a glorious bonus: It turns out that Chris is a pathologist, and Jaqi works for the IRS. This will be the union of life's only two certainties . . . death and taxes. A themed anti-wedding.

Chris and Jaqi fell in love after meeting four years ago through Match.com. Chris had moved here from Upstate New York, Jaqi from Oklahoma. He is soft-spoken, sweet, dedicated to his work at Children's Hospital. She is assertive and friendly, a no-nonsense gal with a dry wit.

This Story
They arrive at our first meeting brimming with ideas. They want the main focus to be a group activity: a walking-tour wedding or a museum visit. Maybe a cooking class wedding (the guests make their own food)! Community centers and restaurants sometimes offer group cooking classes. So do certain grocery stores, such as some branches of Wegmans.
"Wegmans!" says Chris. Until now, he has allowed Jaqi to represent their half of the discussion. "Wegmans," he repeats, more quietly. There is love in his eyes, a love understood only by those who share his vaguely cultish Wegmans devotion.

Wegmans it shall be. We choose a day eight weeks away and send a "save the date" immediately to the 40 people on the guest list via Evite, because calligraphy on parchment paper with a seasonal color scheme represents everything that's wrong with the American way of life.

Jaqi and Chris do not intend to register for gifts; nor do they expect anyone to give them anything -- an inspiring act of practicality and selflessness that prompts immediate objections. Chris's dad implores them to reconsider. Jaqi's friends and co-workers emphatically warn her of the terrible gifts a bride is doomed to receive when she doesn't specify what she wants. But I don't want anything, Jaqi proclaims, to horrified listeners.

The planners, meantime, fondly daydream about a Wegmans wedding. Vows exchanged in the cereal aisle! Shoppers mingling with guests! Oh, how wonderfully possible it all seems. It takes three whole days for the plan to implode.

The Dulles Wegmans and the company headquarters say no. If we let you do it, they explain, everyone will want to. (Everyone?) Still, we refuse to give up -- this is our location -- and stubbornly pursue a weeklong negotiation. We appeal with logic, charm, persuasion and, ultimately, begging. No use. Back at square one. Actually, square zero, a week of our fleeting timeline wasted.

Jaqi sends us a list of alternative locations, suggesting, among other places: the National Building Museum; the Georgetown Public Library, which she has never even visited; the National Arboretum.

Just one week, and our anti-bride is bailing on us. The flower-hater suddenly wants botanical gardens. The anti-wedding planners are sputtering, frustrated with her for going all wussy-princess on them, and with Wegmans for being unreasonable, and with each other for not having better ideas. Time is wasting! And that's when we realize something -- something bad. The anxiety. The frustration. The frayed nerves. This feels dangerously like . . . a wedding.

The anti-wedding planners pause to wipe the wedding Kool-Aid from their lips and soldier on.

Lucky for us, the beautiful and traditional spots will be booked already for mid-June. We ponder anti-alternatives. Would Jaqi get married at work? Yes, but the IRS -- like Wegmans -- fears that it would be bombarded with wedding requests if it approves ours. It seems more likely that the IRS would be bombarded with rotten vegetables hurled by disgruntled taxpayers, but we keep this thought to ourselves.

How about Ford's Theatre? Lincoln inspired the IRS and was shot at Ford's, making it a darkly romantic nexus of death and taxes. Alas, it's closed for renovation. The nearby house where Lincoln died? Even less tasteful, which, in the anti-wedding industry, is rather a plus. At this point, we are informed by the Department of the Interior that, though the house is open, we're not permitted to have a wedding there. We insist that we won't have any regulation wedding gear; we will be indistinguishable from a tour group. Sorry, no, Interior says. So we ask about outdoor weddings in D.C., and Interior informs us that there are only two approved sites for outdoor weddings on National Mall and Memorial Parks property: the Tidal Basin and the WWI Memorial. This is because weddings have setup, says one National Park Service guy. Chairs for guests. Napkins that blow away. The flowered altar, red carpet, all that. We deny we will have any of it, but no one believes us.

Clearly, the only difference between 40 people visiting a site for 15 minutes and 40 people visiting a site for a 15-minute wedding is the weight of the word "wedding"; it carries assumptions of crystal chandeliers and heart-shaped carriages drawn by swans. All weddings are tarred by Modern Bride's brush, inseparable from all the stuff presumed to go along with them, and therefore confined to places where they can be controlled.
The anti-wedding planners gnash their teeth. What exactly could be done to us if we show up someplace public -- no froufrou dress, no props -- and say the words that get Jaqi and Chris married? Surely, we wouldn't be arrested, right? And if we were, it would be ridiculous and unjust, wouldn't it? We are sure Thoreau and Gandhi would agree that if a law is unjust, the responsible thing to do is peacefully disobey in some flagrant manner.

For example, a sneak-attack wedding during a White House tour. Who could stop us? A brief huddle, a 30-second, carefully choreographed ceremony, and Jaqi Ross and Chris Rossi of Rosslyn would be the 10th couple ever to get married in the White House. Perfect! Jaqi has only one question: Could the anti-wedding planners please guarantee that she wouldn't get hustled away in handcuffs and/or lose her job?
Crud.

Our heads hit our desks. Suddenly, it seems possible that we can't do this, that there is no way to pull off the sane, stuff-free wedding of our couple's dreams. We are stymied by the twin conformist monsters of The Knot and The Man.

All we want to do is gather 40 people on public property, say some words and have a ceremony. This is an issue of freedom of speech, religion and assembly. And this is America.

That's when it hits us. It might be the anger; it might be despair; it might be the head injury, but we start hearing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" in our minds.

It's a protest, right? Then let's protest this wanton abridgement of basic human rights, the industry and the government that make it near impossible to be sensible and get married. The wedding itself will be a demonstration. Signs. Chanting. Burning effigies.

Best of all: Where permits are concerned, the "demonstration" label liberates us. We are free to station ourselves at protest headquarters U.S.A., proudly beside the other indignant visionaries with lost causes but inextinguishable hopes. The protest and wedding will be in Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House.

Jaqi and Chris are enthusiastic about the protest ceremony idea, but want it to be legit so as to avoid possible federal career suicide. We must file for a demonstration permit but be clear about the wedding element.

We also make arrangements for a reception at Bertucci's Restaurant in Arlington. This is bittersweet for the planners. Bertucci's is definitely a step up from PB&J, and the dinner will account for the vast majority of our under-$3,000 budget (roughly one-tenth of the average American wedding budget). But we're pleased that there will be no champagne, no canapes, no marinated salmon on a bed of fresh whatever. There will be pizza, spaghetti and beer. There will be readings of hilariously terrible love poetry presented by the bride's ex-boyfriend. There will be no wedding cake.

And so, it finally comes time to find: The Dress.

The Dress must be perfect. Bridal magazines warn that it often requires weeks or months of determined searching. The Dress is even worthy of physical injury, if it happens to be located at Filene's Basement during the annual Running of the Brides, a dignity-obliterating stampede of crazed she-beasts who brawl like rugby players over discounted princess gowns.

On her first try at Lord & Taylor, Jaqi does not find The Dress. She finds two dresses. In one hour. The first of the tea-length dresses is green; the second is red, white and black. Jaqi doesn't care which one she wears on the big day; she'd wear both again, anyway. Together they cost $242. Then she's done, which is good, because she has other errands to run.
Meanwhile, to save the couple the $300-to-$800 cost of a hired officiant, Chris's stepmom, Mardie Rossi, becomes a minister through the Universal Life Church Monastery -- an online church that sells a "Ministry-in-a-Box"package for $139.99 and will ordain anyone it believes to be alive.
Now we have it all. We have conquered the odds, triumphed over adversity, proven our mission possible. With a spring in our step, we visit the regional office of the National Park Service -- a bureau of the aforementioned Department of the Interior -- where we file our protest application and stride boldly into the sweet morning sunshine. Then we stride back, because we are told to by the person holding our paperwork.

You have to remove the wedding, she says. The protest is fine, but you can't have a wedding in Lafayette Square.

Why not? we ask. It's a part of the protest; the group will stand and watch. They are still protesting.

It is not a freedom-of-speech issue, she says. You need a special-event permit, which the department would reject. Too much stuff.

We won't have any stuff, we reply. We just want to say words. It will be much quieter than the protest you're going to approve.

If we let you do this, we will have to let other people do this, she says.

Well, then, we say, why isn't a wedding a freedom-of-speech issue?
It's all in here, she says, and hands us a thick packet of Park Service regulations. We look at the packet, full of tiny type and sections called §7.96 (g) (2) (ii) (E). We scratch the wedding part off our application, hand it back and stride out into the hateful day.

We consider our options. We could respectfully appeal by letter or phone. We could shrug it off and find another location. We could be nonconfrontational, reasonable, compromising citizens, understanding of our nation's laws.

Or we could be ourselves. Belligerent, stubborn and self-righteous, we pick up the phone and call the American Civil Liberties Union.

We speak to someone named Fred who informs us that we are Absolutely Right and that Interior is Absolutely Wrong and that we have a Major Lawsuit we can file that, with luck, might be resolved by July 2011 or . . .
The ACLU is thinking. We are on tenterhooks.

. . . we can beat The Man at his own petty little game.
Fred notes that while Lafayette Square is National Park property, Pennsylvania Avenue -- a mere 20 feet away -- is not, and requires no permit to assemble. So, if the protest just oozed a few feet before the exchanging of vows . . .

Sold.

Jaqi and Chris are immediately on board. And with the wedding element removed from our demonstration permit application, it is promptly approved.

We have a park protest. We have a middle-of-the-street ceremony. We have a Bertucci's reception. And Jaqi and Chris have created an introductory activity to get the guests pumped up before the demonstration: a themed scavenger hunt in downtown Washington. The theme, of course, being "Death and Taxes." Perfect!

Except that Jaqi receives incredulous reactions when she instructs guests to dress comfortably. Shorts and sneakers? Worse, a guest learns of the scavenger hunt and declines his invitation. We wonder: Is bucking tradition, even for the couple's sake, causing actual harm? Are we ruining everything? Might we -- should we -- get cold feet?

The day before the wedding, we are answered by the cosmos. Newspapers report that a D.C.-area couple is charged with running a foreclosure rescue scam, plundering $35 million from homeowners, $800,000 of which was spent on their wedding. At the reception, a deejay encouraged guests to throw their own money at the bride, to be immediately put in a sack by the groom (the money). In the interest of balanced journalism, we search the day's news for an $800,000 wedding not perpetrated by alleged moral scum, but nothing turns up.

The Big Day.
We rise and check the weather forecast, which yesterday promised a mere 20 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Now it's saying 60 percent chance of "strong" storms. With high wind. And "sizable" hail.
Well, we tell ourselves, there are few things more "anti" than people saying vows in a street while chunks of ice the size of Ping-Pong balls plummet from the heavens.

Jaqi and Chris are watching TV in T-shirts and sweat pants when we arrive at 9 a.m. to pick up a few reception items to take to Bertucci's. With no hair or nail or make-up appointments, no tux pickups or boutonniere deliveries, they have plenty of time to relax. The couple mentions that they invited friends and family -- many of whom traveled from out of town -- to join them for breakfast, but everyone declined. Jaqi concludes that no one believes that it's truly possible for a bride to cease fretting or willingly consume carbohydrates on the morning of her wedding.

Bride and groom are showered and put together (Jaqi chose the red, white and black dress and wore her hair loose) when we return to the apartment at 1:30 p.m. Family and friends begin to arrive in waves soon after. Once everyone is assembled, Jaqi explains the scavenger hunt, handing out lists and assigning guests to Team Taxes, led by Jaqi, and Team Death, led by Chris. Guests look at the items on the list: "Taxation Without Representation" license plates, real and fake skeletons, a tax-foreclosed house sign. They plot. They laugh. They are wedding-goers in charge of their own entertainment, and -- unleashed downtown -- they chase ambulances and pose with statues of dead presidents and have a fabulous, fiercely competitive time.

Then, as the hour of the protest approaches, we all take Metro toward Lafayette Square. When we emerge from underground, the sky is suddenly very, very dark.

"Hey, that doesn't look good!" says Chris. "What's Plan B?" And we laugh, to disguise the fact that we are secretly freaking out. Rain is one thing, but this sky looks really serious. It actually looks sort of green. How could this be happening?

The planners send both wedding teams to the McPherson Square Metro station, where guests wait under the overhang while we trek through the incoming storm to the car to retrieve the multitude of protest signs. Just as we return to the square with signs in hand, the rain starts falling in earnest. The wedding planners look at each other. Many unprintable phrases are exchanged.

Of course, we have a plan for this eventuality, as any planner must. In our earliest conversations, we had discussed what would happen if it rained. "If it rains," Jaqi said, "then they get rained on." This plan works perfectly.

When the guests arrive in the square, damp and huddled, Jaqi makes the announcement: Thank you all. We meant it when we said anti-wedding. We hope you will join us in a protest against the wedding industry. The anti-wedding planners cross their fingers as Jaqi hoists a sign that says "Kill Frill."

The guests follow, grabbing "Til Debt Do Us Part" and "Money Can't Buy Me Love" and other signs. And where there had been a wedding crowd -- the people who care for Jaqi and Chris the most coming together for the sake of love -- there is now a chanting, disgruntled mob shaking their angry signs in steady rain, united in shouts of anti-wedding rage, drawing stares from passers-by.

It is beautiful.

And then there is a wedding. We walk 20 feet to Pennsylvania Avenue, and Mardie speaks for 10 minutes about love and marriage, and what you know about love and marriage just by looking at Jaqi and Chris. The couple stands together under an umbrella, flanked by no attendants, facing their guests. They kiss, once in the beginning, once in the middle and once at the end. They elbow each other, like kids with a secret. They respond conversationally to Mardie's questions. They announce that they tried to figure out something to say in the way of vows and decided not to. And they are married. There are no dirty pigeons or burning effigies, no bride in a garbage bag. But there is a canopy of umbrellas in the middle of a street and clusters of protest signs turned horizontal. The rain drips the washable-marker lettering off the signs; those multicolored streaks are the only tears shed. And so it is done. Beer and pizza await.

In the aftermath of the anti-wedding, we mainly feel exhausted. Also relieved. And confused. The wedding, in the end, was a compromise between the utter sedition we planned and the realistic needs of two people who just want to get married coolly. Had we really accomplished what we set out to do?

We simmer in uncertainty for several days. Then, someone asks us a question about a particular detail of the ceremony, and everything changes.
Suddenly, we know: It worked.

For quite possibly the first time in the history of the Western world, it is not until four days after the wedding that anyone, including the bride and groom and both wedding planners, realizes that everyone forgot the rings.

Caitlin Gibson, legal administrator for The Post, is a writer who lives in Bethesda. She can be reached at gibsonc@washpost.com. Rachel Manteuffel is an actor and writer living in Tysons Corner. She can be reached at rachel.manteuffel@gmail.com.

I was looking for Kermit the Frog

2008-07-28T22:57:00.000-07:00

and I found this website... http://ajidesigns.com/Quote%20Cards.htm and these amazing cards and it struck me how you can find the most beautiful things when you're looking for something else.

Be Love For All....

2008-07-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

well, isn't that just lovely?

http://www.beloveforall.org/vision.html

"They call it civil disobedience, I call it divine obedience."
- Father Roy Bourgeois

Independently Peaceful

2008-04-19T13:01:00.001-07:00

Dear peace peeps ---

As far as how peace is relevant to Independence Day --- I haven't all peaced (hahaha) that together but some of the thoughts have to do with proclaiming independence from a tyrannical force that would tell me what to think, what to feel, whom and what to respect, whom and what to value, how to live my life, etc., without an equal measure of value and respect in return. There can be little peace in the presence of such injustice.

The very essence of the revolutionary movement was to stand for a greater truth in the face of oppression no matter the risk. It wasn't the battles after the Declaration that defines what we believe as a nation, nor what we value, but it was the Declaration itself which proposes that each person is FREE and INDEPENDENT, and as such, each person's opinion and value is inherently and "self-evidently" equal. It reads in the prologue of the Declaration that we must have, "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind" which is why what follows is all of the reasons why we must proclaim ourselves as independent from England.

The Declaration was not inherently a call to war -- it only became such because of the response of the Crown. And, as there have always been peaceful people who spoke and took action against the wars and battles that this nation has fought - who have believed that no matter the reason, there was inherent "wrong"ness in the picking up of arms against others, there were those who were against provoking England with such a declaration.

If anything, the Declaration and Independence Day itself was a model for our nation that we have rarely followed since, and did not do before (as some have mentioned the decimation of 12 million natives). We do not act rashly just for the sake of provocation. We act with insight, forethought, and deliberation - which is what many of us in the peace movement are simply proposing we continue to do in all situations.

Below is part of a blog that I wrote after last year's DOP Conference... and it's relevant to the question about Patriotism that I also have gone back and forth in my head and heart.

"So the day starts out pretty great. And then it just gets better. Marianne Williamson is the emcee of the conference. She's the founder of the Peace Alliance and she's warm, funny, uplifting, serious and passionate... and so much more. To kick off the morning, we get our first glimmer of what's really in store for us. Deep commitment from all the staff and leadership volunteers, and gratitude for each of us, thankfulness that we picked up the baton - in this marathon of justice, service, community, peace - and are running the race. Jimmy Demers opened up with a song dedicated to each of us... appropriately, "Let there be peace on earth."

"And then... to celebrate the deep love of our country we all share... he took our breath away with an awesome rendition of "America the Beautiful."

"And I want to talk about this for a moment - this idea of love of our country. I cannot speak for everyone, but I know that oftentimes the challenge for us in the peace movement is how to reconcile the accusations of hatred for our country, our leaders, our troops, with the truth that we are peacebuilders because of a deep, committed, mature and relevant love of our country, its flaws, its promise that remains, its ideals. For myself, it is also the wider, deeper view that the United States represents some sort of beacon of hope for the world, and how it will only be able to deliver on that promise if we each do our part.

"My analogy is this - it's like a high school is the U.S., and I think my high school is the best, winning at sports, academic achievement, social commitment, thinking that we that attend this high school are just generally more fun, more cool, etc. However, a deeper part of me realizes that just because I think my high school is great, that doesn't mean that I truly believe my high school gets to be the boss of every other high school. It doesn't mean that my high school deserves all the best, all the attention, all the resources available, and every other high school can just kiss our collective #**. See, I don't think that way about my high school, and I really don't think that way about my country. So we're here, living in a country - the luck of the draw as far as being our birthplace - and we're just part of the greater whole. All a part of the same earth that we all share.

"So, for myself, my commitment to the world, to the global community, is the broader picture of my commitment to my smaller community, my country. And I'll cry when the national anthem is played, I say the pledge of allegiance with sincerity... but who I am doesn't stop there. It can't. Before being a U.S. citizen, I am a world citizen. Just as it is that before being a member of my family, I am a member of the human family."

In peace,Bobbi Jo

If you want peace, work for justice.

PS --- I have an idea that a nonviolent, peaceful, civic disobedience dedication of the peace pole is the ultimate declaration of independence AND of living the model of peace. And how wonderful will it be to stand in respect and love later at others celebrate Independence Day in their way?

“There is nothing wrong with a traffic law which says you have to stop for a red light,” wrote Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his book The Trumpet of Conscience. “But when a fire is raging, the fire truck goes right through that red light…"

"Or when a [person] is bleeding to death, the ambulance goes through those red lights at top speed… Disinherited people all over the world are bleeding to death from deep social and economic wounds. They need brigades of ambulance drivers who will have to ignore the red lights of the present system until the emergency is solved. Massive civil disobedience is a strategy for social change which is at least as forceful as an ambulance with its siren on full."

What do y'all think?

love

2008-03-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

The answer is the question, right? It is love. pure and simple. love.

PEACE

2007-11-09T07:53:00.000-08:00

PEACE—Poetry, Education, Accomplishment, Charity, and Equality.

Natural Highs

2007-10-27T04:38:00.000-07:00

Think about them one at a time before going on to the next one. It Does Make You Feel Good, especially the thought at the end of 44.

1. Falling in love.

2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.

3. A hot shower.

4 No lines at the supermarket.

5. A special glance.

6. Getting mail.

7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.

8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.

9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.

10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.

11. Chocolate milkshake (vanilla or strawberry ).

12 A bubble bath.

13 Giggling.

14. A good conversation.

15. The beach.

16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.

17. Laughing at yourself.

18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you

19. Midnight phone calls that last for hours.

20. Running through sprinklers.

21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.

22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.

23. Laughing at an inside joke with FRIENDS

24. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.

25. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.

26. Your first kiss (the very first).

27. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.

28. Playing with a new puppy.

29. Having someone play with your hair.

30. Sweet dreams.

31. Hot chocolate.

32. Road trips with friends.

33. Swinging on swings.

34. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.

35. Making chocolate chip cookies.

36. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.

37. Holding hands with someone you care about.

38. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.

39. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.

40. Watching the sunrise.

41. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.

42. Knowing that somebody misses you.

43. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.

44. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think.

Clowning with racism

2007-09-06T23:59:00.000-07:00

http://asheville.indymedia.org/article/107Clowns

Nazi's out of Knoxville!

Wife Power!
Knoxville rejects Nazis and Klan.Saturday May 26th the VNN Vanguard Nazi/KKK group attempted to host a hate rally to try to take advantage of the brutal murder of a white couple for media and recruitment purposes. http://www.volunteertv.com/special.

Unfortunately for them the 100th ARA (Anti Racist Action) clown block came and handed them their asses by making them appear like the asses they were.Alex Linder the founder of VNN and the lead organizer of the rally kicked off events by rushing the clowns in a fit of rage, and was promptly arrested by 4 Knoxville police officers who dropped him to the ground when he resisted and dragged him off past the red shiny shoes of the clowns.

"White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelt “White Flour”.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s angrily shouted once more, “White flowers?” the clowns cheers and threw white flowers in the air and danced about merrily.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s tried once again in a doomed and somewhat funny attempt to clarify their message, “ohhhhhh!” the clowns yelled, "Tight Shower!” and held a solar shower in the air and all tried to crowd under to get clean as per the Klan’s directions.

At this point several of the Nazi’s and Klan members began clutching their hearts as if they were about to have a heart attack. Their beady eyes bulged, and the veins in their tiny narrow foreheads beat in rage. One last time they screamed “White Power!”

The clown women thought they finally understood what the Klan was trying to say. “Ohhhhh…” the women clowns said. “Now we understand…”, “WIFE POWER!” they lifted the letters up in the air, grabbed the nearest male clowns and lifted them in their arms and ran about merrily chanting “WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER!”

It was at this point that several observers reported seeing several Klan members heads exploding in rage and they stopped trying to explain to the clowns what they wanted.

Apparently the clowns fundamentally misunderstood the nature of the rally, they believed it was a clown rally and came in force to support their pointy hated brethren. To their dismay, despite their best jokes and stunts and pratfalls the Nazis and Klan refused to laugh, and indeed became enraged at the clowns misunderstanding and constant attempts to interpret the clowns instruction.

The clowns on the other hand had a great time and thought the Nazis were the funniest thing they had ever seen and the loud laughter of over 100 counter protesters greeted every attempt of the Nazis and Klan to get their message out, whatever that was.

Many of the local Knoxvillians that came to counter demonstrate had no illusions about why these out of state bad clowns with swastikas were doing in their town.

“KKK YOU CAN’T HIDE, WE CHARGE YOU WITH GENOCIDE!”

“GAY, STRAIGHT, BLACK, WHITE ONE STRUGGLE ONE FIGHT!”

“U.G.L.Y. KLAN YOU AIN’T GOT NO ALIBI, YOU UGLY, YOU UGLY”

Were just a few of the chants that the non clown counter protesters rained down upon the Nazis. The clowns interacted with the non clown protesters with glee and even participated in a chant or two, though apparently with no idea that the Nazis were indeed not clowns thinking it was just part of the show.

In the end the 20 or so sad VNNers left with their tails between their legs. At this point over 150 counter demonstraters were present. The clowns seeing how dejected and sad the Nazi’s looked began singing to cheer them up.

“hey hey hey hey, ho ho ho ho—good bye, good bye” everyone sang waving their arms in the air in unison.

After the VNNers left in their shiny SUVs to go back to Alabama and all the other states that they were from the clowns and counter demonstrators began to march out of the area chanting ‘WHOSE STREETS? OUR STREETS!”

But the cops stopped the clowns and counter protestors. “Hey, do you want an escort” an African-American police officer on a motorcycle asked. “Yes” a clown replied. “We are walking to Market Square in the center of town to celebrate.”

The police officers got in front of the now anti racist parade and blocked the entire road for the march through the heart of Knoxville. An event called imagination station was taking place and over 15,000 thousand students and their parents were in town that weekend. Many of them cheered as the clowns, Knoxvillians and counter protestors marched through the heart of Knoxville singing and laughing at the end of the Nazi’s first attempt at having a rally in Knoxville.

On June 16th the Stormfront Nazis are trying to have a second rally in Knoxville. Clowns, anarchist, activist and others are all invited to come and creatively and nonviolently help us confront these Nazis and give them an even bigger counter rally than the first. If you can come, or can help email.

knoxvilleantiracistaction@yahoo.com

or join our myspace at:

http://www.myspace.com/knoxvilleantiracistaction

Thanks to Three Rivers Earth First!, Mountain Justice Summer, Katuah Earth First!, Knoxville Anti Racist Action, Katuah Anti Racist Action and the clown block for utterly wrecking the failed attempt of the Nazis to get a foothold in Knoxville. In one day Three Rivers Earth First!ers posted over 1000 anti racist fliers all over Knoxville recruiting people to come, this is just one example of all the work and effort that went in to creatively and nonviolently rejecting the VNNers out of Knoxville.

Related Link: http://www.myspace.com/knoxvilleantiracistaction

Seeds of Peace...

2007-08-25T00:52:00.000-07:00

The tagline is good copy, that's for sure. But I wonder if such good work and process must forever remain in the realm of charitable fundraising to support the curriculum? I wonder. Especially, as it's own website says...

Seeds of Peace: An International Model
Due to its proven impact and success in the Middle East, Seeds of Peace has earned international recognition as an effective model for resolving conflict worldwide.

http://www.seedsofpeace.org/

So the tagline is more about -- really I don't know -- since, if it is educating youth with life skills imperative to the development of compassion, respect, and skills -- shouldn't that be EXACTLY what an empowered citizenry and government that recognizes the inherent value and equality of every human being be determined to do?

Until we realize this... and perhaps until the founders of this organization do also... keep up the good work and let's figure out how we reconcile the promise of the United States with the delivery of that promise.

Violent thoughts...

2007-07-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

“There are three kinds of violence: one, through our deeds; two, through our words; and three, through our thoughts. …The root of all violence is in the world of thoughts, and that is why training the mind is so important.”
-- Eknath Easwaran

One of the major concerns about the Department of Peace legislation is the idea that somehow proponents are somehow advocating for the federal government to legislate our thoughts. It's the Orwellian prophecy perhaps, it's the cynicism about the true nature of people, and even more than these two things, there is an idea that most serves people who would rather dismiss the idea of peace out of hand. In that dismissal there is a brief acknowledgement of the vital and very personal responsibility each of us bears in the violent tendencies of our society. It's brief because we cannot bear to think of the full load, it's brief because we'd rather not begin the discipline of controlling our own thoughts even though we are quick to affirm that nobody else better do it either and we'd rather not revisit this idea again.

Three things

2007-07-27T00:06:00.000-07:00

Three things in life that, once gone, never come back -

Time
Words
Opportunity

Three things in life that can destroy a person -

Anger
Pride
Unforgiveness (How True)

Three things in life that you should never lose-

Hope
Peace
Honesty

Three things in life that are most valuable -

Love
Family & Friends
Kindness

Three things in life that are never certain

Fortune
Success
Dreams

Three things that make a person

Commitment
Sincerity
Hard work

the BIGGEST book in the world... for PEACE

2007-07-04T00:46:00.000-07:00

The Groton-Dunstable Middle School
BOOKMAKERS AND DREAMERS FOR PEACE

WHAT IF WE SET OUT TO MAKE THE BIGGEST BOOK IN THE WORLD??

It seemed like a passing idea at first, but enthusiasm grew. Mrs. Sawyer urged that if the students were truly committed to making the world's biggest book, "the topic should be about something REALLY important, right?" The students concurred and began discussing issues such as poverty, violence, the environment, etc. After several iterations (and some timely influence by activist-singer Jimmy Cliff) they finally agreed the most important topic of all was World Peace. And on that day, a world-changing idea was born.

This small band of Groton-Dunstable students adopted the name "Bookmakers and Dreamers Club for Peace, and embarked upon a grand learning experience. They were transported backwards through history and forwards into the future, down the street to the local voting centers and all around the world.

The students launched a massive letter writing campaign seeking answers to their questions about World Peace. To their amazement, they began receiving letters and notes of encouragement from people of all walks of life, including noteworthy leaders such as: The Dalai Lama; Nelson Mandela; Maya Angelou; Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton: Senators Kennedy and Kerry; Princes William and Harry and more. Three years later, the kids have responses from nearly 500 local and global icons. In addition, this six-week long "temporary class" has now become a permanent and popular fixture in this celebrated Middle School, And, the University of Massachusetts School of Engineering, the Boston Museum of Science, the Carter Center and others have each expressed strong interest in supporting the project in their unique and respective ways.

How to make better choices...

2007-06-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

Your Worst Choice Ever?
Remember Superman's evil doppelganger Bizarro? Turns out you've got one, too. And he comes out when you're sleep deprived. Research shows that when people attempt to resolve emotionally charged, dangerous situations on little sleep, they make the opposite choice from what they would have made when well rested. Here's why.

Sleepy Heads Are Slow Heads
When you're tired, your brain has trouble integrating thoughts and feelings. The result? Not only will your sleepy brain likely reach a different conclusion when faced with distressing choices, but you'll also take longer to make that decision than you would if you were caught up on your sleep.

Trouble sleeping? This symptom checker may tell you why.

Got tough choices to make in your day-to-day life? Then you'd better get your ZZZs.

Sleep better tonight with these tips.