Chalmers Johnson: High-Ranking U.S. Military Officers Treated Like Royalty

Had a great discussion at book club tonight about nonviolent communication (language,) nonviolence as a cultural alternative, the prospects for empathy, kindness, compassion for creating a better world.

I also described a movie that I saw in fourth grade. In the movie it rained all the time, except for a two hour window every year. The two hour window was known well in advance, and in the movie, which was set in an elementary school, all the students and teachers were very excited and looking forward to the annual two hours of sunshine (because in the film, all the flowers would bloom in that very short window.)

When the day came, some mean students locked up one of their peers in a closet, so that she was unable to venture outside and run in the sunshine through fields of flowers.

I felt very sad for the poor child, a victim of bullying. I wonder how other people interpreted the film. Maybe that it is better to be strong than weak, better to be a bully than to risk being bullied?...

Personally, I think the path to peace is through trust, honesty, openness, truth, and vulnerability...

There are so many reasons to believe in the transformative power of love and compassion, and cooperation - rather than fear, hate, and violence, and domination...

The following is an interview with Chalmers Johnson that mentions how U.S. military generals get treated like royalty:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial

I was recently alerted to an effort to create a national memorial in an effort to honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..

Check out the website here: www.mlkmemorial.org



"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity"
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Iraq Memorial to Life, September 2009, Olympia, Washington

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwhitlock/sets/72157622421415048/show/

2009 Arlington Northwest War Memorial, Olympia, Washington

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwhitlock/sets/72157622419014558/show/

Iraq Memorial to Life

Iraq Memorial to Life

Over one million innocent Iraqis are estimated to have suffered war-related fatal casualties.

Millions upon millions more suffer with non-fatal casualties. Indeed, has anyone person in Iraq been left unscathed?

Six Years of War in Iraq

I just posted a blog entry about a community observance of the six years of war in Iraq, and information about an opportunity to reflect on the war-related death and destruction, at OlyBlog:
http://olyblog.net/sixth-anniversary-us-invasion-iraq

Arlington Northwest 2008

Olympia, Washington

More information at OlyBlog: Arlington Northwest Iraq War Memorial 2008