“Thoroughgoing ignorance about the ways of others is largely a privilege of the powerful.”
– Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, Kwame Anthony Appiah
By the way, there are nonviolent communication courses being offered at locations throughout the Puget Sound region. Northwest Compassionate Communication
Here's the card on Buddhadasa, according to my transcription:
Now for the card based on Marshall Rosenberg's theory of nonviolent communication:know the heart
know the heart
or essence
of your own
spirituality,
and encourage others
to know theirs.
share with others
at deeper levels,
don't dwell on the
differences,
recognize those things
held in common
and build on thatwork together to
"drag humanity out from
under the power of
materialism."sharings from
buddhadasaservant of the
buddhaa thai monk
And be sure to watch this video with Marshall Rosenberg:basic
human
needs
marshall roseburg
author
nonviolent communication"at every moment we have the
power to make life wonderful""basic needs are never in conflict,
get past enemy image"
some basic human needs:
sustenance,
protection,
understanding / empathy,
honesty,
celebration,
autonomy,contribute (meaningfully to life),
power (influence one's space),
fairness,
love,
justice (restorative...)
respect,
belonging / community"when we interact
on the level of
basic human needs
there is no conflict"
I am back at home after a 5 hour City Council meeting during which nearly 100 people spoke on the topic of a proposal to change the existing urban waterfront zoning regulations on the "Isthmus" area of Downtown Olympia. Flood of emotion here. I'll try to keep it on track. The meeting was very informative. I heard many things that I haven't heard before. People who spoke seemed to be about 3 to 1 opposed v. supportive of the proposed rezone.
The rezone might result in what developer Triway Enterprises has marketed as a massive mixed use building that would, as it is currently slated, contain 141 "up-class" condominiums, which would be priced from between $800,000 to $1.2M (according to the proposal.)
...many, many more questions could be asked. And hopefully they will. Make sure to keep an eye on OlyBlog.net for more information. By the way, I entered the discussion that has taken place on OlyBlog (it has been discussed since at least February) into the official record. (see http://olyblog.net/isthmus-2008)
Hi,
I don't know where all of your political leanings are, so I hope not to offend. But I have had it. And it's time for truth-telling.
I am pulling for Ralph Nader.
Obama and McCain are too similar in their corporatism (willingness to drill for oil, go to war against Iran, prolong American empire.)
I've had enough.
I won't be badgered or kowtowed toward the lesser of two evils. Yes. It can rightly be argued that Democrats do less harm than Republicans. Democrats are the lesser of two evils (at least from the liberal perspective). That's how they (both D and R) stay in power.
Divide and Conquer.
Sow fear and watch the masses flock.
Gore Vidal said in 1981 that two parties are really just two wings of the same party. It's still true 27 years later.
We need something better. We deserve something better.
Let Nader Debate (link to campaign issues).
I am disappointed in Obama. I even served as a precinct delegate for him at the local County Democratic Convention/ Caucus.
But I am disillusioned after his recent bows to American foreign policy belligerence.
I might vote for Obama if it close between him and McCain here in Washington State (and given the pathetic condition of the establishment mainstream media - which is, in itself, just another symptom of the big business corporate power two party duopoly - that's a possibility.)
[added here: I might vote for Obama out of sheer pragmatism. But even my belief that the solutions - the path to a better world - might be attainable via baby steps is in doubt. The Democrats are not speaking truth to power. And we need the truth. I support Ralph Nader.]
I support Ralph Nader and it will be just another example of the sham government and political system if challengers like him, and Cynthia McKinney, are disallowed from participating in the election (open debates in particular) as legitimate and credible candidates.
With Love,
bert
This is me, photo taken by Julie Woods. She also took one with her camera. I'll link to it if I get a chance.Proposed new FBI rules draw civil liberties worries
Fri Sep 12, 2008 6:17pm EDT
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department unveiled proposed new rules on Friday for FBI investigations, changes a civil liberties group criticized for giving agents powers to investigate Americans without proper suspicion.
In its first major change in years, the Justice Department proposed a consolidated set of guidelines for domestic FBI operations, seeking to apply the same rules for criminal and terrorism cases, and for collecting foreign intelligence.
The guidelines were first adopted in the 1970s following disclosures that the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover had run a widespread domestic surveillance program that spied on civil rights activists and political opponents.
Officials said the new guidelines, which total 45 pages, were still being revised after consultations with Congress and civil liberties groups. The new rules are expected to take effect on October 1.
Justice Department and FBI officials told a news briefing the changes would allow agents in some terrorism cases to use informants, do physical surveillance and conduct interviews without identifying themselves or their true purpose.
They said such techniques currently could be used in ordinary criminal cases, but not for those involving national security, before an investigation has begun.
The American Civil Liberties Union expressed concern the rewritten rules had been drafted in a way to allow the FBI to begin surveillance without factual evidence to back it up.
It said that under the new guidelines, a person's race or ethnic background could be used as a factor in opening an investigation, a move the ACLU believes will institute racial profiling as a matter of policy.
ACLU Washington legislative director Caroline Fredrickson said, "Agents will be given unparalleled leeway to investigate Americans without proper suspicion, and that will inevitably result in constitutional violations."
Anthony Romero, the ACLU's executive director, said, "Issuing guidelines that permit racial profiling the day after the 9/11 anniversary and in the midst of a historic presidential campaign is typical Bush administration stagecraft designed to exploit legitimate security concerns for partisan political purposes."
Department officials said the guidelines would not allow an investigation based solely on a person's race or religion. "We are not changing our basic approach when race, religion or ethnicity may be taken into consideration," said one official who declined to be identified.
"The Department of Justice has long been concerned about the use of race or ethnicity in investigations. But it is simply not responsible to say that race may never be taken into account when conducting an investigation," spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said in a statement after the briefing.
(Editing by Peter Cooney)
From Orwell's 1984:
"The primary aim of modern warfare (in accordance with the principles of doublethink, this aim is simultaneously recognized and not recognized by the directing brains of the Inner Party) is to use up the products of the machine without raising the general standard of living. Ever since the end of the nineteenth century, the problem of what to do with the surplus of consumption goods has been latent in industrial society...It's a great book. Read George Orwell's 1984.
"...it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction — indeed, in some sense was the destruction — of a hierarchical society. In a world in which everyone worked short hours, had enough to eat, lived in a house with a bathroom and a refrigerator, and possessed a motor-car or even an aeroplane, the most obvious and perhaps the most important form of inequality would already have disappeared. If it once became general, wealth would confer no distinction. It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed, while power remained in the hands of a small privileged caste. But in practice such a society could not long remain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realize that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance...
"...Nor was it a satisfactory solution to keep the masses in poverty by restricting the output of goods. This happened to a great extent during the final phase of capitalism, roughly between 1920 and 1940. The economy of many countries was allowed to stagnate, land went out of cultivation, capital equipment was not added to, great blocks of the population were prevented from working and kept half alive by State charity. But this, too, entailed military weakness, and since the privations it inflicted were obviously unnecessary, it made opposition inevitable. The problem was how to keep the wheels of industry turning without increasing the real wealth of the world. Goods must be produced, but they must not be distributed. And in practice the only way of achieving this was by continuous warfare.
"The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent. Even when weapons of war are not actually destroyed, their manufacture is still a convenient way of expending labour power without producing anything that can be consumed. A Floating Fortress, for example, has locked up in it the labour that would build several hundred cargo-ships. Ultimately it is scrapped as obsolete, never having brought any material benefit to anybody, and with further enormous labours another Floating Fortress is built. In principle the war effort is always so planned as to eat up any surplus that might exist after meeting the bare needs of the population..."
Quotes are courtesy of the program: (The Actors' Gang 1984 Program [pdf]):
All the war-propaganda, all the screaming
and lies and hatred, comes invariably
from people who are not fighting.
~ George Orwell
Every war when it comes, or before it
comes, is represented not as a war but as
an act of self-defense against a homicidal
maniac.
~ George Orwell
The first casualty when war comes is
truth.
~ Hiram Johnson
In a time of universal deceit - telling the
truth is a revolutionary act.
~ George Orwell
The very concept of objective truth is
fading out of the world. Lies will pass
into history.
~ George Orwell
All war is deception.
~ Sun Tzu
War against a foreign country only
happens when the moneyed classes
think they are going to profit from it.
~ George Orwell
The most tyrannical governments are
those which make crimes of opinions, for
everyone has an inalienable right over his
thoughts-- nay, such a state of things
leads to the rule of popular passion.
~ Benedictus de Spinoza, from
Theological-Political Treatise
War is a way of shattering to pieces...
materials which might otherwise be used
to make the masses... too intelligent.
~ George Orwell
The Aligning of the Souls gathering was great. Many stories, prayers - and jokes - were shared amongst the participants. The gathering kicked off last night (Wednesday night) with a potluck meal and the sharing of prayers and stories relating to the topic of healing and peace in the wake of the horrible events of September 11, 2001. Some people sang songs or read poems, some people told stories and shared wisdom, everyone listened.
This morning the gathering continued at dawn (Thursday morning, September 11, 2008) with the commencement of a day long continuous heart beat drum rhythm. We prayed for peace and healing as the cool and foggy air and mist of dawn gradually gave way to a brilliantly blue sunny and cloudless September Eleventh day. A ceremonial fire was lit in a very special outdoor fire place. The fire burned throughout the day, carefully observed, attended and listened to.
Many wonderful prayers were shared. I often times wish that I had recordings after such events, because it would be good to remember and know the specifics of what people said. However, although I may not remember the specific words, the feelings are very present - and I know they will always remain so, with me. The feelings will stay true to the original intent and meaning of the words. (Maybe this is how de ja vu works - i.e. specific emotional memories trigger thought memories.) It was a full day and night of remembrance and holding the hope of healing and peace in a vigilant way. It was a great experience and I am glad that I participated.
The theme of the gathering was Living on the Bridge from Fear to Courage. It was relevant both in a societal sense and also on a personal level, for me. I appreciate approaching the horrible events of 9/11 and the following disasters from this perspective. Moving from fear to courage: how can we learn from fear - acknowledge it and understand it - and choose, separately, to act, instead - not out of fear, but out of courage, and love. Fear can knock me down. But community can give me courage - song and dance, sharing, holding vigil and vigilant drumming, awareness and consciousness and conscientiousness raising, conversation, intentionality - these can further the cause of courage and give me (and perhaps you too) the strength to act despite fear - or to, even better, eclipse fear entirely, or even better yet, to replace fear with love, pure and simple.
Again, many people shared many beautiful and deeply meaningful stories. I wish I could share them all with you! But I will share a couple of my prayers, which I shared with some who were there. First off, in the morning I asked the sun for strength to carry us and help us through the long day of presence, to stand by us in vigilant witness - witness to and of the will for healing, and of the will for peace.
Another prayer that came to me was to send positive regards to all of the people whom are in positions of power, people in places like Congress (and public officials generally), in the media, and in other positions of power (spiritual, religious, etc.) to ask them, and support them (lend them courage), to ask the appropriate and perhaps difficult questions about the horrible events of September 11th, 2001. For example, when did the US Government stop providing Osama bin Laden with material support to conduct his activities? ... I prayed (and I continue to do so) for those people (in positions of power) - and I send them my positive regards in hope that they will have the courage to stand up and begin to ask these important questions.
I also prayed for peace and healing and relief for those whom continue to suffer as a result of the horrible attacks of September 11th, 2001 (and any other related incidents as well as any incidents which are similar in nature.)
Many people died. Many families lost loved ones. I pray for those who lost family and friends. I pray that they may find healing and peace - and even perhaps somehow come out of this experience as somehow improved - better somehow, as a result of all this horrible pain and loss, this tragedy and madness.
So, out of such a terrible event such as the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, it may be something beautiful can be birthed. A phoenix may, out of the ashes, rise. I pray for that. I pray for the birth of a culture of true peace and respect, based in love (not fear.)
