New Material on OlyBlog

I have a few new posts on OlyBlog, some about nature, some messages to The White House, some about the peace vigil: olyblog.net/blog/berd —Berd

Peace Vigil Video with Frog Song

Peace Vigil at Percival Landing with frog song audio overlap
Friday the 1st of April, 2011


Peace Vigil at Percival Landing
Olympia!

Another version of the video posted below (audio track removed, frogs only.)

Invest in peace, not war.

Friday 11 March 2011, Olympia WA—At the Friday evening Olympia FOR (Fellowship of Reconciliation) weekly peace vigil

Dear All: Invest in peace, not war. Divest from war. It's the right time to change. The USA can stop bullying—stop treating people poorly. We can find mutual welfare and happiness in life-serving policies. Please: put international public interest before private/special/national interest.
Thank you!
Berd

We can choose a better future.

Hey, join me at the peace vigil! Every Friday (that's today) from 4:30 to 6pm at Percival Landing.

We can choose a better future!

Percival Landing January 2011

This is the view from Southeast Percival Landing, looking toward the North. I was there for the weekly Friday evening peace vigil. The peace vigil goes from 4:30 to 6pm. You're invited and your presence will be welcomed and appreciated if you stop by and join us. No need to stay the whole 1.5 hours, although that's appreciated too. Join us. We'd love to see you!

Peace Vigil at Percival Landing Friday 15 October 2010

more information

Peace Vigil Report (re-posted from OlyBlog)

Peace Vigil Report

Sat, 07/17/2010 - 11:42am — Berd

Richard and Me at the Peace Vigil
July 16, 2010
Percival Landing Olympia Peace Vigil—For some reason, although there were mostly acknowledgments of approval, there were more than the usual number of passerby who registered disapproval. One individual, who "did two tours in iraq," (and I believe them) verbally accosted me from an open car window with three or four young children in the vehicle. Another asked, "where is your green card."
There is more info about the vigil available here: olyblog.net/thought-bandit
I was asked to show my green card—and I am white! I can't believe it. I can only imagine what black, brown, and other people of color are experiencing these days. Racism is hate speech, and there are laws against hate speech. Hate speech does not belong in public, nor in society in general.
Please ask the Obama Administration to enforce laws against racist hate speech. If you're on facebook, you can find more info here:
White House Enforce Laws Against Hate Speech. If you're not on facebook, then please consider contacting the White House, information at whitehouse.gov.
—Berd
p.s. here is another photo from the vigil that shows the recent hazy polluted air quality:

Thought Bandit!

I just posted three new blogs on OlyBlog. One about the socially destructive nature of advertisements, another about my letter of interest to serve on the Editorial Board of The Olympian, and the following Thought Bandit, which is also cross posted here:

Choose Peace

Friday, June 11, 2010
Olympia, Washington

Choose Peace!

Count the Ways...there are so many ways to choose peace!

For one, boycott, and divest from, harmful industries!

Build a peace economy.

Ah Yes. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

Human Rights Are For Everyone: Cut the Military Budget

Weekly Friday evening peace vigil at Percival Landing

For most of the vigil I held a sign that read, "Human Rights Are for Everyone."

War is a Government Riot! (Mouseover)

War is a Government Riot!
(this is a mouseover - try it! move mouse over the image—be patient, sometimes it takes a minute for the secondary image to load!)

The War Stops Here - Olympia, Washington

I love the sign, "The War Stops Here," that one of these vigilers was holding in this photo:

Friday, January 8, 2010
Women in Black - Olympia, Washington Silent Vigil
The War Stops Here!
Olympia, WA

some more recent photos: 01/10/2010 Recent Photos | OlyBlog

No More for War

From the Gaza Freedom March Solidarity Demonstration in Seattle, Washington
Saturday, January 2, 2010

Gaza Freedom March

view larger: No More for War!

Peace for All People

Peace for Children. Peace for Our Children. Peace for All Children.

Peace for All People.

All people deserve to live in peace.

The real vital national interest is peace - and not war.

The real vital national interest is to create mutually beneficial and cooperative economic structures - as opposed to the economics of domination, as opposed to policies of imperialism.

The real vital national interest is social justice and ecological sustainability - not exploitation - nor any other harmful economic activities, which cause so much, and so many, horrendous social and environmental degradations.

I believe that it is wrong for some people to personally "benefit" from activities that are socially and/or ecologically exploitative, abusive, or harmful in any other way.

Check out this video of a speech by teenager Severn Suzuki to a UN Conference on Environment and Development: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW_YxJy-9Y8

view larger: Peace

Who Would Jesus Bomb

Who would Jesus bomb?

Christmas Day, 2009

Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation Peace Vigil

Percival Landing, Olympia, Washington

War is immoral. All war begins with aggression. Aggression is immoral. Military aggression is widely considered immoral, and there are numerous international legally binding treaties established against war of aggression. It is probably unanimous amongst international political bodies that aggression is immoral and illegal. How could it not be? If stealing is illegal, if rape is illegal, if murder is illegal - then how could the most horrendous violence possible - the violence of a war of aggression - ever be considered legal.

Self-defense is one thing. A reasonable and proportional self-defense against immediate attack. But the wars of the United States of America are a different beast. The wars of the USA are not truly self-defense - nor a legitimate protection of "national interest." What the wars of the USA defend is the selfishness and the greed of the USA. The wars are an effort to further international policies of and practices of oppression and exploitation, under which the USA operates. The wars of the USA do not truly defend the national interest. The wars and international policies of the USA defend the corporate interest - the interest of the most influential and powerful (typically multi-national) giant corporations.

War is immoral. For good reason. War is the worst violence known to humanity. War is waste. It is oblivion. War is destruction defined.

People and nations have a right to defend themselves. But people and nations do not have a right - and in fact they betray the rights of all people - when they commit the crime of a war of aggression.

The wars of the USA are aggressive wars - imperialistic wars - wars designed to further the establishment of dominance - of global hegemony.

I believe that the imperialism of the USA, and the giant corporations that are its keepers, is the worst violence known to modern humanity.

But this perspective - these truths - are very effectively kept away from the American people by a revolving door between cultural affectation, and a media structure that feed off of, and create, each other.

There is a horrible myth in today's America, and to a lesser extent in today's world. It is the myth that America is the greatest nation on Earth - when in reality, the very opposite may be true. It may be more true that America is the worst nation on Earth - that America is the world's greatest perpetrator of violence and oppression - even to the point of wars of aggression, conquest and imperialism.

In America, terrible violence is part of mainstream culture. In America, there is a disparity in wealth between rich and poor that is maintained through systematic oppression.

In America, some people make profit when bombs are dropped. People profit when wars are waged. People profit from all sorts of harmful, destructive and violent economic (and anti-economic) activities!

So, really, I ask you to please answer this question: who would Jesus bomb?

Hold the Torturers Accountable

To Save Our Republic, Stop Our Empire!

A People Are Part of One Human Family