30 June 2011

Global Water Dances Olympia

I have a couple new posts about the Global Water Dances 2011, Olympia. A couple photos here and video here. It was an awesome event: wonderful, magical, divine. We were blessed with great weather for the ceremony. So check it out. We even had a blue heron fly over at the start of the Global Water Dance. It was flapping strangely! A good omen perhaps.

Be well!

25 June 2011

Competition and Consciousness

From some ideas relating to the post I previously mentioned on OlyBlog:

Competition may have its place. But when competition gets to the point of subduing, subjugating, demeaning—of behaving in ways that are downright cruel (or even just unfriendly,) then what good is that!

Mean-spirited competition, oppressive competition, divides—it opens up corridors for greed and avarice, toward pursuit of conquest.

Competition and Consciousness
When there is competition to get rich, and there is also insufficient consciousness and caring about others' well-being, then we wind up with social situations ripe for the outbreak of violence—violence even to the extreme point of war.

Because the real cause of war is competition over material resources, and the quest for material and economic superiority.

And truth is the first casualty of war.

22 June 2011

Flower and Owl

I have been posting, and usually post more often on my blog at OlyBlog.net. For example please check out a link about redefining poverty, here: olyblog.net/challenging-traditional-ideas-about-wealth-and-poverty. Here are some flowers and an owl:

Friday 17 June 2011
Percival Landing, Olympia

_MG_8174
Sunday 19 June 2011
Watershed Park, Olympia

more owl photos: olyblog.net/owls-watershed

18 June 2011

Big Person, or Small Shopping Cart? Or Both?

Getting too big! haha—Gosh, capitalism sure can get ugly!
Getting too big! haha—Gosh, capitalism sure can get ugly!

Big Humanity? Or Small Planet? Or Both?

What happens when the planet can no longer sustain human societies?

Do people suffer? If so, is it necessary?

10 June 2011

Slideshow

Update Sunday 12 June 2011, new posts on OlyBlog about Stonewall Youth Drag Show, the difficulty of practicing peace in daily life, peace vigil video, and information about my friend Scott's situation being charged with crimes by the City here...

Busy with other stuff. Kind of behind on email and some other stuff. Here's a slideshow of some recent photos. These are all from Thursday the Ninth of June, Two Thousand Eleven...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwhitlock/sets/72157626933777950/show/

02 June 2011

Protest Trial Update

Wednesday 1 June 2011
Information about trespassing trial, pleaded guilty today. News here: olyblog.net/protest-trial-tomorrow

[The following are thoughts I had the day after:

It's Thursday morning. I woke up with the feeling that I had been railroaded by the prosecution into a guilty plea. I was led to believe that I wouldn't be afforded a public defender because the prosecution was not seeking jail time. However, the judge made it apparent that if we were to pursue a plea of not guilty then, based on financial need, a public defense might be possible.

Now it seems that I have a federal criminal record...but I think most people will understand that my actions were based in altruism, and my actions and those of my co-defendants were also very respectful of humanity and all life on this planet.

Thursday afternoon: The actions of my government leave me feeling depressed. I know this is a simplified way of looking at the situation, because the problem is much deeper and bigger than "the government." The problem is actually socio-cultural. And it is about the political-economic that is built on that socio-cultural phenomenon.

I have thought (many times, and for many years previous to now) of suing the government for inflicting emotional and psychological harm.

As someone who cares about humanity and all life on the planet, the actions and policies of my government leave me feeling depressed.]