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Nude Women and Men Protest War

January 3, 2003 admin

From the Website (where you can enlarge the pictures): “Organizers said Sunday's gathering is only the beginning for Baring Witness, as the group plans to demonstrate in the nude as part of a mass demonstration called the National March on Saturday, Jan. 18 on Market Street in San Francisco and in Washington DC. Event organizers said they hope up to more than 100,000 people participate at both demonstrations, naked or clothed.”

I must confess, this is after my own heart. Years ago, at a conference for transformational leaders from North and South America put on by the Together Foundation — created to bring peace to earth — conflict was pervasive. On the fourth day, at the morning open mike session, I took off all my clothes. I'd awakened at 4 am the day before, was “told” to grab my pen, and wrote a speech about how we needed to come together. The dictation in my mind said that if my speech that morning didn't work, the next morning I was to take off all my clothes. What can I say!? In fact, it brought everyone into a different space — singing and snake dancing and shouting out lines of poetry, after much darkness and no singing and no poetry over the previous four days…Suzanne
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Crop Circles

COULD WE SPARK A CAMPAIGN?

December 30, 2002 admin 9 Comments

12/20/02 (I'm late posting this)

I saw “8 Mile” last night. The slums of Detroit are another world. And worlds like this pocket America. Strange. And ominous.

The movie reeks with life. These people don't go to shrinks to deal with ennui. Just clinging to existence is a full time effort. And that involves a vitality that has no way to express but in toughness and violence. And creativity. Rappers are everywhere, and the street is right in tune with them. Talent is in long supply.

Thanks to the filmmaker for a graphic glimpse of world's colliding that can't maintain as a stable reality. So now what? My impulse is to speak out — to say that attention must be paid. You can't leave people in degradation. Bringing neighborhoods up to decent standards is imperative. It's gorgeous to build architecturally masterful new museums and to rebuild the World Trade Center, but those hallmarks of our excellence are nowhere near as important as clearing up what threatens to sink whatever we build. Then, the international situation is just an extension of these domestic realities, where we have to make the world a place where everyone gets a fairer shake.

We all struggle along, tearing our hair, worrying about terrorism, but the bullet of paying attention to what needs doing close to home, as the cornerstone of creating a more equitable world, we haven't bitten. Go see this movie. See if it's OK to just watch it as entertainment, or if it stirs you to action.

Could there be a campaign that social commentators spark? Could people who write what people read turn their full throttle attention to it? Could they advocate a fundamental change?

This morning, on the Today Show, they had the right idea. Here's what's on the NBC Website:

“Today” is pleased to announce that our ninth annual holiday toy and gift drive is now underway. Last holiday season, we shipped a record $9 million worth of toys, books, games, clothing, electronics and so many other items from our generous partners to more than 500,000 children. These children – from infants to 18 year-olds – are reached through more than 200 non-profit organizations all over the United States. Complete story: http://www.msnbc.com/news/827091.asp#BODY.

People who work on NBC shows and people in the audience who came to see the Today Show were the ones who were donating toys this morning. I was particularly struck when Katie Couric thanked the woman on the staff whose job it is to assemble the toys, that she also gets from corporations and wherever else she can find donors. The woman was said to have a very demanding job which she'd been working at for a long time. Since the project gets just a few mentions on the Today Show, it's essentially a gesture of altruism.

YES! Let all who can do so make serious gestures of altruism. Yes, yes, yes. Earn Brownie Points like crazy. Let corporations compete for how great their social services are. Can you imagine affluent auspices struggling to outdo one another to help humanity? I can.

I'm sending this to some people I post on this website, to see if I can enroll them in spearheading such a thing. A space has been opened here. It could take just a few powerful voices, in concert, to send waves out that embrace everyone. Could giving be what propels us in this new year?

An inspiration comes from the fight against graffiti that was waged in New York City. That effort was small time compared to fighting criminals, but it turned out to be a key to reducing crime. There's a chapter about this in

“The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.” In its review, Time Magazine pointed to the book as being “about the large consequences of marginal actions,” and said, “…such big crimes as assault and robbery happen where small decay, like litter and graffiti, is tolerated.”

Could tackling poverty in America result in dissolving the terrorist threat? Indeed, it could be THE way.

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World Press

ALL ABOUT IRAQ

December 30, 2002 admin

Edward Herman on U.S. Aggression Against Iraq

I could hardly bear to read listmember Ed Herman's thorough, profound and penetrating summary of where it's at with Iraq. I know all this, and still this is a benchmark piece. Here are some quotes from it:

Despite the hidden agenda and illegalities of the inspections system, and Iraq's foot-dragging and deceptions, the system did oversee the destruction of an estimated 90-95 percent of Iraq's WMD stocks, and most of its WMD capacity. Iraq was essentially disarmed, according to Scott Ritter and Hans Von Sponeck, who were active participants in the inspection process. But this did not satisfy the United States and Britain, and couldn't do so because of their illegal aim of regime change…

The apologists underrate the costs of war. There will be modest U.S. casualties, but enormous Iraqi casualties as the U.S. carries out its standard policy of intense bombing prior to invasion-occupation. There will be huge costs in a destroyed Iraq and heavy costs in the conduct of the war. “Collateral Damage: The Health and Environmental Costs of War on Iraq,” put out by the Medical Association for Prevention of War in November 2002, estimates half a million deaths assuming only conventional warfare, costs exceeding $200 billion, and immeasurable adverse secondary effects on health and welfare.

There will also probably be intensified terrorist responses to the attack on Iraq. This and the feedback effects of war on the U.S. society will push it further toward an authoritarian state. This is a plus for the Bush administration as it will, like 9/11 and the war on terror in general, help it cover over its anti-public interest agenda.

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