i am not a terribly social person. i don’t like small talk and playing social games that many seem to enjoy. i much prefer intimate settings where folks can get to know each other and talk about interesting things- and i think that’s why i enjoy blogging so much. i don’t [...]

The Roman Senate
There are certainly enough issues out there right now. Overwhelming, actually, that we’re pulled in so many directions trying to do the right things on every front. Each of us may take up our own favorite cause, and some of us try to respond and put out all the fires at once. On [...]

It’s been a long time since I was in the Army. I was drafted in 1968 and I served 22 months in all, with the last 12 being in Vietnam. I was a combat infantryman in a mortar platoon. I always had some shame after Vietnam. I was always ashamed that I didn’t see the [...]

YAY!!! I can be thankful for these students who disrupted Alberto Gonzales’ speech at the University of FL. on Monday evening. From the CommonDreams writeup linked above:
In his first appearance at a university since resigning in August, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was met at UF on Monday with a mixture of cheers, boos [...]

i have been wracking my brain trying to think about what i was going to do a post about this week- not that i don’t often find myself in that situation but it’s that time of year when we are supposed to really be thankful for something. i won’t lie- [...]

The folks in Olympia WA are and they proved it this past weekend by using civil disobedience. They are using the tactics we employed during the Vietnam War. Why doesn’t the peace movement now use them? Are people not as committed to ending BushCo’s wars now as we were during the Vietnam war?
 

This was gleaned [...]

Early History The tenets of non-violence exists in all of the early Abrahamic religious traditions (Jewish, Christian and Muslim), the Darmic traditions ( Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism) and many pagan traditions. Secular movements use non-violence as a practical or strategic effort purely as practical strategy without the moral or religious worthiness overtones. I note [...]

Of course the majority of the MSM has little to say on the topic. But IndyMedia, Boston.com, LAT and IndyBay.org have good writeups on the protests held in 11 major American cities. The events were organized by UnitedForPeaceAndJustice, their site has a great section on each city with reports and pictures. A few of the [...]

You have to watch it all the way through my dear reader. The good stuff is at the end. You know how the pharma ads tout their product then rattle off all the side effects quickly at the end? Well, this ad does that for enlisting in the military..
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H/T to Chuck and DonkeyOD for putting [...]

most folks know that the situation in darfur is desperate. the news is never good there- and i guess i continue to wonder about how human beings can view other humans as objects to be tortured and killed. i think folks get numbed to the mindless genocide around the world and it is all too [...]

www.oct27.org
 
those words mean working together for peace. on october 27th, massive demonstrations will take place in boston, chicago, jonesboro, tn, los angeles, new orleans, new york, orlando, philadelphia, salt lake city, san francisco, and seattle- not to mention in other communities across the country. for more info- go to their website- www.oct27.org
 
cross posted [...]

Before we leave the story of WW2 CO’s and get into the historical perspective, the story of some of theses brave men deserves a last look. Rather than feel despair at the overwhelming support for war in the U. S., many felt energized, used their experiences to fuel later movements at home and around the [...]

CO’s~ conscientious objectors, a ridiculed segment of our society ~especially in times of war. Yellow bellied cowards who took everything from this nation and then refused to give back ~right?
This week I learned different, after the excellent Ken Burns film The War hinted briefly at CO’s contributions to WW2 ,how they were allowed to become [...]

I wouldn’t believe it unless I saw it with my own eyes..but here it is..from CommonDreams.org:
ASSISI, Italy - About 200,000 people marched from Perugia to Assisi Sunday calling for “all human rights for all” and the end of wars.
The 24km “peace march” between the two towns in central Italy concluded a “peace week” featuring some [...]

i haven’t been doing as much posting these days as reading. it’s probably just as well because what i have been reading hasn’t been pretty. many folks are leaving their blogs in what is probably best described as a state of ptsd- and that isn’t to make light of the problem. there is one thing [...]