Activism

"So often activism is based on what we are against, what we don't like, what we don't want. And yet we manifest what we focus on. And so we are manifesting yet ever more of what we don't want, what we don't like, what we want to change."

"So for me, activism is about a spiritual practice as a way of life. And I realized I didn't climb the tree because I was angry at the corporations and the government; I climbed the tree because when I fell in love with the redwoods, I fell in love with the world. So it is my feeling of 'connection' that drives me, instead of my anger and feelings of being disconnected."

-Julia Butterfly Hill

"Stay and finish the job or there will be hell to pay. The bad guys will win then."

"If we don't support the war, then we are not supporting the troops!"

"If we educate the people, they will demand withdrawal from the war."

"If we demonstrate and get media attention, people will realize many don't want our sons and daughters killed in a useless war created for a president's ego and personal wealth."

I heard all these ideas and arguments back in the Viet Nam era, and eventually we got out and the'bad guys' won back their country. It was horrible, but no more horrible than the war itself, and I think that applies to Iraq also. The aftermath of the VN war was millions sick and dying from the after effects of Agent Orange, land mines, and other horrific nastiness used during the war.

The longer we are there, the more poisoned and devastated the countryside will become for generations afterwards, if only from the spent Uranium bullets used there. We must work to get those poor enslaved men and women out of that country and back home, for everyone's sake.

The real problem is the Fascist in government. With the bankruptcy, credit card, and vet degrading bills passed by the Fascists, and their control of the media, now they are going after the universities and colleges, with intent upon decreeing the criteria that can be taught in those schools.

Does this remind anyone of what happened in Germany as Hitler came to power? The Dominionist Fascist agenda is apparently much like the NAZI one, and being implemented as we speak. How do we take back America from well entrenched Fascists?

Voting doesn't do it... they control the process as is apparent after the two coups they have pulled off already. Writing congressmen doesn't do it when the left is scared to death of ending up 'disappeared' or worse, their family as hostages for their behavior, (why else are they so quiet and submissive?), and writing to right wingers might well get you on some list of 'malcontents' or 'liberals'.

Signing petitions is a really dumb thing to do in these times. Ready made lists of 'political traitors who don't support Der Leader'...

It can't be taken back violently unless the military sides with the people, which is unlikely as the German Army siding with the anti-Hitler people in Germany,and frankly, all the guns in all the civilian basements are really just a great way to become a military target. The technology of war and 'intelligence' is too developed to fight a revolution. There's no chance of winning. Everything has changed to make revolution in America impossible.

Now we have to find some peaceful way of raising consciousness or sidestepping the issue with the development of new technologies which short circuit the strategies of the Fascists. This is not some neoNazi skinhead group who want to create a new Nazi America... this is a huge group of religious fascists who have more control, power, and resources than any political or religious group in the history of Humanity. Opinion polls are meaningless in the face of such power.

But we could pool our brains and educations and create technology which could indirectly sidestep the old ways of thinking these Dominionist fascists use in their strategy.

An example from India... change the length of a broom handle and increase the time a person can live without back pain, which changes the way they interact with the younger generations, which helps spread wisdom and perspective through the youth. I'm not suggesting that a broom handle is the answer, but there must be technology not thought of which would change everything in ways that brings freedom despite the best efforts of those who are set on taking it away in the name of their illusionary 'God'.

Lest you think I am speaking of the impossible, it was 'impossible' at the beginning of my lifetime to speak around the world on tiny threads of glass and go to the moon and talk to someone on a phone in a car and half a million other technologies which now shape our world.

If not you, who?You got something better to do with your lifetime of experience and wisdom than save the planet?

End of rant.

"Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is violating all hislaws." : John Adams

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War: first, one hopes to win; then one expects the enemy to lose; then, one is satisfied that he too is suffering; in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost. : Karl Kraus (1874–1936)

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"It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificually induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear." : General Douglas MacArthur, Speech, May 15, 1951

From the Onion http://www.theonion.com/

GOD ANGRILY CLARIFIES "DON'T KILL" RULE

NEW YORK — Responding to recent events on Earth, God, the omniscient creator-deity worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years, angrily clarified His longtime stance against humans killing each other Monday.

"Look, I don't know, maybe I haven't made myself completely clear, so for the record, here it is again," said the Lord, His divine face betraying visible emotion during a press conference near the site of the fallen Twin Towers. "Somehow, people keep coming up with the idea that I want them to kill their neighbor. Well, I don't. And to be honest, I'm really getting sick and tired of it. Get it straight. Not only do I not want anybody to kill anyone, but I specifically commanded you not to, in really simple terms that anybody ought to be able to understand."

Worshipped by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike, God said His name has been invoked countless times over the centuries as a reason to kill in what He called "an unending cycle of violence."

"I don't care how holy somebody claims to be," God said. "If a person tells you it's My will that they kill someone, they're wrong. Got it? I don't care what religion you are, or who you think your enemy is, here it is one more time: No killing, in My name or anyone else's, ever again."

The press conference came as a surprise to humankind, as God rarely intervenes in earthly affairs. As a matter of longstanding policy, He has traditionally left the task of interpreting His message and divine will to clerics, rabbis, priests, imams, and Biblical scholars. Theologians and laymen alike have been given the task of pondering His ineffable mysteries, deciding for themselves what to do as a matter of faith. His decision to manifest on the material plane was motivated by the deep sense of shock, outrage, and sorrow He felt over the Sept. 11 violence carried out in His name, and over its dire potential ramifications around the globe.

"I tried to put it in the simplest possible terms for you people, so you'd get it straight, because I thought it was pretty important," said God, called Yahweh and Allah respectively in the Judaic and Muslim traditions. "I guess I figured I'd left no real room for confusion after putting it in a four-word sentence with one-syllable words, on the tablets I gave to Moses. How much more clear can I get?"

"But somehow, it all gets twisted around and, next thing you know, somebody's spouting off some nonsense about, 'God says I have to kill this guy, God wants me to kill that guy, it's God's will,'" God continued. "It's not God's will, all right? News flash: 'God's will' equals 'Don't murder people.'"

Worse yet, many of the worst violators claim that their actions are justified by passages in the Bible, Torah, and Qur'an.

"To be honest, there's some contradictory stuff in there, okay?" God said. "So I can see how it could be pretty misleading. I admit it—My bad. I did My best to inspire them, but a lot of imperfect human agents have misinterpreted My message over the millennia. Frankly, much of the material that got in there is dogmatic, doctrinal bullshit. I turn My head for a second and, suddenly, all this stuff about homosexuality gets into Leviticus, and everybody thinks it's God's will to kill gays. It absolutely drives Me up the wall."

God praised the overwhelming majority of His Muslim followers as "wonderful, pious people," calling the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks rare exceptions.

"This whole medieval concept of the jihad, or holy war, had all but vanished from the Muslim world in, like, the 10th century, and with good reason," God said. "There's no such thing as a holy war, only unholy ones. The vast majority of Muslims in this world reject the murderous actions of these radical extremists, just like the vast majority of Christians in America are pissed off over those two bigots on The 700 Club."

Continued God, "Read the book: 'Allah is kind, Allah is beautiful, Allah is merciful.' It goes on and on that way, page after page. But, no, some assholes have to come along and revive this stupid holy-war crap just to further their own hateful agenda. So now, everybody thinks Muslims are all murderous barbarians. Thanks, Taliban: 1,000 years of pan-Islamic cultural progress down the drain."

God stressed that His remarks were not directed exclusively at Islamic extremists, but rather at anyone whose ideological zealotry overrides his or her ability to comprehend the core message of all world religions.

"I don't care what faith you are, everybody's been making this same mistake since the dawn of time," God said. "The Muslims massacre the Hindus, the Hindus massacre the Muslims. The Buddhists, everybody massacres the Buddhists. The Jews, don't even get me started on the hardline, right-wing, Meir Kahane-loving Israeli nationalists, man. And the Christians? You people believe in a Messiah who says, 'Turn the other cheek,' but you've been killing everybody you can get your hands on since the Crusades."

Growing increasingly wrathful, God continued: "Can't you people see? What are you, morons? There are a ton of different religious traditions out there, and different cultures worship Me in different ways. But the basic message is always the same: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism... every religious belief system under the sun, they all say you're supposed to love your neighbors, folks! It's not that hard a concept to grasp."

"Why would you think I'd want anything else? Humans don't need religion or God as an excuse to kill each other—you've been doing that without any help from Me since you were freaking apes!" God said. "The whole point of believing in God is to have a higher standard of behavior. How obvious can you get?"

"I'm talking to all of you, here!" continued God, His voice rising to a shout. "Do you hear Me? I don't want you to kill anybody. I'm against it, across the board. How many times do I have to say it? Don't kill each other anymore—ever! I'm fucking serious!"

Upon completing His outburst, God fell silent, standing quietly at the podium for several moments. Then, witnesses reported, God's shoulders began to shake, and He wept.