New Cultural Revolution

Political and spiritual revolution...

2011-10-15T23:21:00.001-07:00

Global revolution simmering....If you think about it: if, indeed, 2012 is a BIG deal (chance for a spiritual awakening as Mayans predicted), do we know what that awakening would look like? What is the precursor to that and what would the precursor look like? Perhaps the political uprising that is sweeping the world in 2011 is a precursor to that next stage of human evolution? If so (and I'm hoping it is), we have not been born into a nightmare time in human history, but rather the opposite: the MOST beautiful time in human history. How about that?

Art for the sake of our very soul!

2011-10-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

What the hell! Why shouldn't we support artists with our tax dollars like Canada and England and other civilized cultures? We need art, in all its forms, to feed our souls. It may even inspire some us living bland lives to jump in and devour the ecstasy of the creative life!

Passion, passion, passion for life and The Great Mystery. That is what I'm missing and I will not let this lousy excuse for a civilization beat it out of me. I will not forget what I knew as a child: life is worth living!

Competition and human nature...

2011-07-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

Anthropologists have recently begun to question the notion that competitiveness is inherent in human nature. The tribes that did best were those that were able to better cooperate with each other. And neuro-scientists have discovered recently that we are actually "hard-wired" (I know, I don't like that phrase either!) to get greater jolts of pleasure chemicals (dopamine, I think) in our brain when we cooperate. That would strongly suggest that the response developed in early hominids as an evolutionary advantage.

On social change and re-defining our words...

2011-07-18T17:49:00.001-07:00

Educating the public, raising people's consciousness and changing laws. All staples of the work for social/political change. I propose another aspect to the good fight. Changing the defnitions of political and economic life. For example, Webster's New World Dictionary defines "politics" as (among other connotations), "the conducting of or participation in political affairs, often as a profession" and "political methods, tactics, etc.; sometimes, specifically, crafty or unprincipled methods." In the near term, I propose a new definition: the active pursuit of the redistribution of wealth and power among all people in a society towards the principle of equality." And perhaps, in the future, very simply: "compassion in action."

Competition vs. Cooperation (irony ahead): cooperation wins every time!

2011-07-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

A few thoughts...

If it's true that plants have an understanding to share resources (a rather cooperative endeavor), how can the human experience truly benefit from what is not inherently the way our planet works? I believe we're all here to learn different things and very few things are (for all people under all circumstances) "good" or "bad." Likewise, I don't believe competition is "bad," just fundamentally not helpful to nourish our souls. It does serve well as an alternative to nothing at all (think sports programs for inner city youth), but how much more valuable would it be to have programs to cooperatively develop and grow gardens in those same inner cities? That experience has been transformative of entire communities. Basketball produces very (very) few rich stars and peddles the cruel illusion of fame and fortune that keeps most of us fighting each other for scraps of a life lived alone and scared.

plants and cooperation...

2011-07-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

Doing some yard work this past weekend...down on my hands and knees, up-close with the grass and tangle of weeds, I realized something...just popped in my head. These plants have (closest thing I can think of) an "agreement" with each other to share access to what they need: soil, sun, water. My intuition was pretty strong: they are not so much competing. Confirmations on that?

Greatness everywhere! In praise of divine love...

2011-07-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

There is greatness in every human being. At their core, the essence of us. And when we have the courage to love, that is when who we are in the flesh comes close to the greatness in our core. They may be said to meet at times. That is when our bodies glimpse the infinite as if through a thin, deliciously tempting veil.

Earth and You - a Divine, Unbreakable Link

2011-05-30T17:43:00.000-07:00

We must begin to listen to our heartbeat and the sound of our breath. In each, there is wisdom and an echo of Mother Earth's breath and heartbeat. We must begin to trust the wisdom they impart to us for they are the fabric of that which connects us to Mother Earth--and therein lies the wisdom of the Universe. Each moment is a new chance to make healthy choices. As much as we degrade our bodies with drugs and alcohol, poisoned or processed foods, television and words and deeds of violence, we are all equally capable of ending the abuse and re-joining our natural connection to Mother Earth.

In this approach, connecting the personal with the planetary, lies our potential for saving ourselves and restoring the sacred integrity of Gaia. The health of our bodies and that of our society are intimately intertwined with Earth's health and vitality. As we humans go, so goes our precious planet. As our planet goes, so goes our bodies and souls.

Blessings.

John

The solutions are not technical, they come from raising a ruckus!

2011-03-13T18:54:00.000-07:00

I understand that civilzation has its risks. I am OK with getting in my car and driving to work. I'm aware of the odds of getting in an accident. I choose not to use microwave ovens, as I am in doubt about the safety of their everyday use and feel there is potential for an increased risk of cancer. Hey, look, I'm willing to wait a little longer for my frozen burrito in a toaster oven. I simply defrost it the day before I intend to eat it. No big deal. But the clear difference between those more mundane choices and the risks of having nuclear power to give us electricity is something never mentioned in the media when this issue gets debated by the parade of government officials and the "experts." The difference is that no one ever asked me if I'm OK with the risk-to-benefit ratio of nuclear power. I'm guessing not a single citizen was ever asked for their permission to endure the risks of contamination of an area of land equivalent to Pennsylvania should there be a nuclear meltdown. Had anyone ever bothered to ask me, I would have asked, "what are my other options and what do they cost?" Not just the dollar cost, but the cost to the next hundred generations. If you factor in the costs of the entire nuclear cycle and the devastation to the planet it represents...and if people were aware of these other environmental costs, the cost of a kilowatt of electricity from a nuclear power plant would make even the strongest stomach churn.

I grow weary of the discussions that are coming out in the media about this debate. They're almost exclusively about how to tweak the technology to improve the safety to the public. I can't tell you how many times I hear about how the most modern designs of nuclear power plants are so far superior to the old designs. But I think the fundamental question we, as a society, should be asking--right up front--has more to do with the democracy of the technologies of our era. Why aren't we being asked for permission before a new (often unproved) technology is released or before a chemical is manufactured and used in new products for consumer use? Where is our government in all this process? They are supposed to represent our interests and I have to say, they're failing pretty miserably to represent the common good. If you include the massive federal subsidies for oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy, the government has been doing a stellar job representing the narrow interests of business.

This is all to say that we can't really expect our elected leaders to wake up some day and realize, "oh, I feel so bad...we haven't really been thinking of Joe and Josephine Citizen." I'm not holding my breath for that. Nope, it's up to us to raise a ruckus and make it so that the way "business as usual" happens in our civilization is, frankly, unacceptable. We have to be willing to sacrifice and step out of our comfort zone. Marching in the streets and embracing the tenets of civil disobedience is looking mighty good these days. And I think I'm not alone when I say I'm feeling inspired, like more and more Americans, by the developments in the Middle East. It just might be our turn to be entirely fed up with the status quo.

We want clean, green energy for our future!

2011-03-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

As the news from Japan about the extent of damage and death and misery unfolds, I'm also following closely the threat of nuclear emergency and the possibility of some degree of nuclear meltdown at one of the many nuclear power plants on the northern island.

In particular, this from a UK Guardian report jumped out at me:

"According to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Authority, 20% of the world's 442 working commercial nuclear power stations are in areas of "significant" seismic activity."

Full news report:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/13/nuclear-power-station-plans-criticised

These developments, whether they turn into a radioactive disaster for Japan or not, has very ominous implications for the United States. It also may provide important lessons for U.S. energy policy. Lessons that we should take directly to our elected leaders, both locally and nationally, to assert our rejection of nuclear power as an option to throw in the mix.

To those who say, "Wait! We need transition power options before the green energy options..." I say: baloney! It is the same arguments I heard in the late 1970s when I advocated for a clean, renewable energy transition for this country (and, indeed, the world!). The real holdup? The oil, gas, nuclear and coal industries that wine and dine their way into the hearts and minds of our elected leaders-- at the expense of the public interest. Now it is time to take our cue from the courageous protesters from the Middle East and insist on absolutely no compromise on what a vast majority of Americans want: a robust, more egalitarian economy powered by clean, renewable energy.

We have to hold our elected leaders' feet to the fire, figuratively speaking, of course! No more excuses. We have a magnificent nation of honest, caring, intelligent citizens and there is nothing we can't accomplish when we put our minds (and hearts) to it! Of that I have no doubt.

The possibilities are endless because my heart knows no bounds

2011-03-06T18:57:00.001-08:00

New, new, new! Every day, and for that matter, every moment is new! Filled with new possibilities for growth, love, grace and renewal.

And let's not forget forgiveness...forgiveness of ourselves is the hardest, but every moment is a new chance to forgive ourselves and not be bound by what happened in the past. We always have an opportunity to say, 'I decide who I am today!'

You can decide not to be controlled or molded by the past. Not to forget the past, but decide who you want to be today. We have infinity inside of us, so anything you decide to be is right there where you can access it: inside yourself. Our most horrible nightmares are borne from believing the lie that we are chained to our past.

Drink From Every Moment - a poem celebrating life

2010-11-04T00:21:00.000-07:00

Drink From Every Moment

Shiva, Mother Mary, Quan Yin, Kali, dear Goddess, Earth Mother
Slake my thirst for strength & beauty
Come closer and let me drink from the moment…
each moment as it presents itself to me
Let me drink from the moments as they pass through me, over me, in me
Let me drink from your offer of wisdom and kindness
Each and every moment, without judgment, without rejection,
without my petty restrictions
Secure in trusting love that each moment you have given me
from your great and generous heart
is, above all,
blessed with your brilliant light.

Johnny's commandments - in honor of his birthday...

2010-10-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

John’s Commandments...

Be true to who you are
Tell the people you love that you love them
Every person is doing the best they can
Listen, listen, listen
Don’t assume, ask
Always be ready to learn
Humility is the spice of life
The past is dead and the future awaits your decisions
Never miss an opportunity to be kind to someone who needs it
Forgive yourself
Engage people in dialogue

Perhaps a new being...?

2010-09-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

Preparing for Revolution Month...Quote #5:
"The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives” - William James (American Philosopher and Psychologist)

John sez:
This is, fundamentally, not an era of violent revolution, but rather a time in human history for a new kind of human being. It is time for an evolution in human consciousness. Blessings to all those who serve this higher purpose! The future awaits the fruits of your passionate labor.

No struggle, no progress...

2010-09-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

Preparing for Revolution Month...Quote #4:
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning." - Frederick Douglass

John sez:
These are not metaphors for violent political struggle alone. They can be used for men (and women) to resist the shallow pursuits society keeps us focused on. Plow up the ground and dig deep to find the compassion and empathy you have buried within. A revolution in human consciousness will be what blossoms.

A new day, a new hope...

2010-09-08T23:52:00.000-07:00

Preparing for Revolution Month...Quote #3: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.” - John Fitzgerald Kennedy

There are some who would say that history has it's own creative flow and that people can get caught up in it. The flow of change, great change, is being stifled by forces in our society that want control over us. But the compassionate grace of the human heart and the force of human evolution, spiritual and otherwise, cannot be contained forever. It will be unleashed. It must be released! It is only a matter of time.

September: Preparing for Revolution Month

2010-09-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

“Let me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.” - Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

John sez:
We need a (new) Velvet Revolution of creative, ecstatic, unwavering, insistent, non-violent dissent. This is what I see for the world's future. If not, then we must face the real possibility of a long period of great darkness.

Poem by my father:

title: tears to be shed

tears to be shed
all the oceans
all the rivers

all the waters
in the world

are the tears
to be shed

before we know
ourselves....

*****************

Apathy and Oil

2010-06-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

The horrendous (and ongoing) disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has me thinking about several things, most come under the heading of “punishment” and “prevention.” But grief is slowly setting in about the whole mess. Grief about the response from our so-called leaders and the American people. For me, the recent ludicrous Supreme Court ruling codifying the idea that corporations have the same rights as people comes to mind after April 20th. If corporations now have the rights of people, what about the responsibilities? And if that is so, what about the death penalty for British Petroleum? Governments have the right, some would say the duty, to revoke corporate charters of any company that behaves in a reckless manner that is negligent of public responsibility. And by current accounts (a recent article by Jim Hightower chronicles their record: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/16-2), BP is the number one worst of company in what appears to be an entire industry that is among the most irresponsible.

…the Center for Public Integrity has revealed that the oil giant's current catastrophic mess should come as no surprise, for it has a long and sorry record of causing calamities. In the last three years, the center says, an astonishing "97 percent of all flagrant violations found in the refining industry by government safety inspectors" came at BP facilities. These included 760 violations rated as "egregious" and "willful." In contrast, the oil company with the second-worst record had only eight such citations.

The other thing that strikes me as especially ironic is that our culture is nearly awash in eloquent reminders of the preciousness and beauty of life. BBC and Discover and Disney have all come out in recent years with magnificent films and TV series that highlight, in high definition clarity, how utterly amazing and rare our planet is. We have inherited a living planet of stunning beauty and fortitude! So why are we not protesting in the streets everyday to punish BP and related corporations for their ongoing criminal madness? I’m beginning to think we as a species have been so anesthetized with the notion of our own political impotence that we are fundamentally unable to recognize self-destruction and frozen in fear to prevent it.

How drunk are we with apathy and despair that we cannot move to action? How addicted are we to the products of oil that we cannot demand a new vision of our leaders and even more difficult, of ourselves?

We need more, many more, protests like the one described here: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/19-2
…at the G20 Summit in Toronto.

I will repeat the mantra I’ve been saying to all those who care to listen: we are the leaders we’ve been waiting for! We don’t need another Chernobyl” or “Bhopal” or “Katrina” or “Deepwater Horizon” to realize that the very way civilization operates, on a regular basis, day in and day out, is simply not sustainable for human survival.

I’ve been a citizen activist all my adult life, in one form or another, and I can tell you that there are dozens of ways we can contribute to a better future; from prayers to letter writing to nonviolent revolution and everything in between. Precisely what you do or how you express your anger, dismay or despair is, of course, up to you. I can only urge you to do something. Joining a group of folks doing something already is a great way to start. Changing the way things operate has never been much fun done in solitude, for obvious psychological reasons. It is plain to me that, as awful as this disaster is and as painfully destructive as it will be, there is a brief window of opportunity for us to press to significant change. A society run on clean, renewable energy is as good a vision as I can imagine.

Peace,
J

Time frames for cosmic happiness...

2010-06-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

Dream your destiny

Plan your near future

Live in the moment

BP: a LONG history of criminal deviancy...

2010-06-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

It case anyone had any doubts, it turns out BP has a LONG previous record of irresponsible, criminal disregard for Mother Earth and worker safety..."BP Is a Corporate Criminal" by Jim Hightower...

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/16-2

This post on FaceBook prompted a great dialogue about what to do in the face of this horrific disaster...the following is an instructive dialogue we can all learn from:

John: I'm so tired of hearing it referred to in the media as an oil spill!? This is a disaster on the scale of Chernobyl, people!

Felice: Tonight, I moved grief about this for the first time since it occurred. I think alot of us, deep inside, feel emotionally devistated but may not know what to do. I reccomend allowing a good cry for Mother Ocean, for the Ocean creatures an ultimatley, for us humans. This is..well...there are no words. Just tears. Lets feel them...release those salty tears back to the Ocean....and pray for hope and a solution...

John: Thank you so much, Felice, for your wisdom. There are a variety of responses we're each going to have and grief is certainly healing. I would also encourage folks to consider adding to the mix a little outrage followed by action. (See my latest post today.) Blessings to Mother Earth and Her children.

Jim: and organize a citizen's arrest with help of local law enforcement and trial of BP executives. All the praying in the world won't stop another disaster like this. But holding accountable (criminally) those responsible will stop it.

Felice: I agree with both of you. Underneath rage...however, always lies grief and sadness. It's healthy to get in touch with that too. And prayer does help...it has science to back it :o) but your right Jim, prayer needs action. They work hand in hand.

Jim: I think prayer helps people cope with tragedy but not deter criminal behavior.

John: Jim, while agree criminal trial is a very, very good idea to possibly deter future conduct on the part of oil companies, we need a fundamental shift in civilization and this horrible disaster is yet another public example to hold up and argue for real change in our society. It is an opening for forward movement. Let us grab it with both hands and cheer with love and hope in our hearts!

Felice: Spoken like a true skeptic Jim! LOL...hugs!

John: We all have something to contribute...in our own way, yeah?

Love, the blessed healer...

2010-06-16T13:33:00.001-07:00

Love is the blessed healer of all wounds and pain. Love, turned into action with heart, makes us giants as we endeavor to conquer everday monsters in our insignificant mortal bodies.

Cell tower organizing in Ashland

2010-06-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

This is a recent email report from the owners of Hidden Springs Wellness Center. Please look it over and see if you can make any meetings or write to the government leaders they suggest. Go democracy, go!

Report start----------

The Planning Commission met on June 8th and decided to defer their decision to the June 22nd meeting. They have also reopened the record for written testimony until next Tuesday, June 15th.

There are three ways you can help us save Hidden Springs:
Send an email to April at the Planning Commission: lucasa@ashland.or.us. Emails must be received before 4:30 next Tuesday, June 22nd.
Show up at the June 22nd meeting, 7pm at the same place, 1175 E Main.
Attend an informational meeting at Hidden Springs next Tuesday evening, June 15, 7pm.
Your email can be brief. The Planning Commission needs to know that the 352 emails that came in last time was not an isolated incident. We have not gone away! Ideally, 500 will come in this round.

Here’s a letter to the editor we just sent in today, which may help you decide what to write. Thank you so much for your help!

Rod and Brooks Newton

Hidden Springs

Our Letter to the Editor:

AT&T’s Response:

Question: Which do you think is a better location for a new cell tower in Ashland, given that either location provides the desired improvement in service?

A. By the freeway where there is an already existing cell tower.

B. On top of a family theater in a shopping center adjacent to health care facilities where there is no current cell tower.

AT&T chose the Cinema location, despite writing in their planning packet that the freeway location is “a reasonable location according to the search map” and that co location at the freeway site could work from an RF perspective.

After 352 people wrote letters of opposition to the Cinema location, the Planning Staff received a letter from AT&T. Staff were fully expecting it to be a request to withdraw the application, due to this overwhelming community opposition. Instead, AT&T flagrantly disregarded community input and requested that the records be re-opened, so they could restate their existing agenda and push forward.

Now citizens have a further week for input. The issue here is whether corporations can force their agenda on a community, or whether citizens’ input is seriously considered in the local decision making process. Your voice can make a difference. If you want to speak up, send an email to April at the Planning Commission: lucasa@ashland.or.us. Emails must be received before 4:30 next Tuesday, June 22nd.

Rod and Brooks Newton, owners

Hidden Springs Wellness Center (541) 488-8858

Revolution is in the air...

2009-10-21T01:44:00.000-07:00

I am but one man…what can I do to make a difference?
How many of us whisper this desperate question too softly in our heart
At night
Alone in the gathering darkness
In fear of what is to come and become of us?
The answer came to me in a dream, daydream actually
I can love
I can love in the ways that D.H. Lawrence alludes to when he disdains of the theft of love …so pitiful and wretched in its costumed and masked specter: romantic love!
How pale does this twisted beggar compare
To any divine vision of loveliness that dances everywhere we care to look
In all things does love flow and sing
Giving of its gifts freely
And we, enamored of dancing shadows against the walls around our hearts
ignore the taste of love, the joy of that which
cannot be contained or defined or categorized
It is what binds all and gives breath to all that stirs
And I, beginning to awaken
do miss it with all my heart!

Sayin' it like it is, D.H.!

2009-10-21T01:43:00.000-07:00

"Oh what a catastrophe, what a maiming of love when it was made a personal, merely personal feeling, taken away from the rising and setting of the sun, and cut off from the magic connection of the solstice and equinox! This is what is the matter with us, we are bleeding at the roots, because we are cut off from the earth and sun and stars, and love is a grinning mockery, because, poor blossom, we plucked it from its stem on the tree of life and expected it to... keep on bloom in our civilized vase on the table." - D.H. Lawrence

What the future will look like…

2009-08-18T12:11:00.001-07:00

The revolution will not be commoditized (unless it's me making videos about it; then it's a good thing!)

Victor Hugo said, "Not all the armies in the world can stop an idea whose time has come." Why is that, or more importantly, why will it be in this new century in this Western civilization? Because the owners of corporations are human and they get caught up in the great ideas of an era. And here, in the midst of multiple crises are the new ideas for our era:

Looking to leaders to solve our problems is obsolete (we, the people, are the new leaders)

Corporations are obsolete.
Communities will be the new dominant organizational entity; just in time for our survival.

War and violent conflict as a means for settling disputes is obsolete.
Diplomacy, international cooperation and aide, international trade and cultural exchanges are the future.

Centralized anything is obsolete.
The new paradigm will be independent, decentralized, self-sufficient communities that operate in connection with, but autonomously from each other. The power of that potential is perfectly clear in a remarkable video I recently purchased: The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil. Ask your local library to buy it and make it available.

Fossil-fueled anything is obsolete
Do I need to go into details on that one?

Centralized command of the media is obsolete!
We are coming to realize that there are far too few corporations that own what we see and listen to...so in the future we will come to understand that the media is owned by us! I realize that An Inconvenient Truth was tepid compared to the “Kick You Upside Yo Head" real truth of global heating, but it proved one thing VERY clearly: One well-made and well-marketing film can create a sea-change in public opinion in as short a time as ONE YEAR! The debate went from, ‘have humans caused this apparent (alleged) climate heating thingie?’ to now: ‘what should we do about global warming?’

(Video of an overweight and haggard Al Gore testifies before Congress on global heating:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2007/03/16/VI2007031601135.html
He could use some organic, locally-grown fresh produce…and a little rest!)

Think about what can be done with the viral marketing potential of one well-made video on YouTube. Perhaps the one I’m working on with my systems sciences professor, Alder Fuller on the “make you sick as a dog” truth of global heating will make a difference (?).

If we have the power to change our own individual circumstances, perhaps we can, in concert with like-minded people, create extraordinary changes in our so-called civilization. The new tools are unfolding before our eyes: citizen sovereignty re-awakened in our hearts and minds, the internet and video cameras! Not that any of them are that new by themselves, but (along with the plummeting costs of digital cameras and powerful computers) all together, yes, they represent a new and uniquely empowering paradigm shift.

Truth and where we can (maybe) find it...

2009-08-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Truth, or should I say the highest, longest-lasting truth, does not come from a book. No matter how auspicious the book's beginnings, nor its place on the best-seller list.

Yes, empirical knowledge serves to guide us and give us clues about where to find truth. But it is not enough to help us develop wisdom.

Truth, I believe, comes from years of self-discovery, life mistakes and inglorious pain and suffering. OK, sure let's add meditation to the list and inward reflection. How about the truth of a silent night of nothing but crickets and the gentle touch of your lover's hands? How about watching children play and observing the perfect, comfortable peace your cat can EASILY fall into at any time of day or night?

Truth, I believe, comes from understanding smaller, precious truths and discarding old truths that were just perfect for that time, but just don't make sense any longer. Truth grows in the heart of someone who is hungry, VERY hungry to know...and sometimes it grabs you by the lapel and shakes you when you least expect it.

Like now!

Climate change YouTube video sparks some debate!

2008-12-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

From a YouTube viewer of my video on climate change:

A species stupid enough to cause global warming isn't going to be bright enough to solve it!

-------------

My response:
Our species has great potential, but a key step involved is re-connecting with Gaia, our Mother Earth. The more folks do that, the more we will realize that our fate as a species and that of the planet are intertwined and that we are PART OF this living planet. Wisdom about what to do will come from that awareness!

----------------

His/her response:
But how many thousands of years would such a huge jump in evolution like that take - we simply don't have the time left to hope for an entire species to suddenly start operating on such a massively heightened level of awareness

Most members of our poor human race are still happily driving cars and watching X-factor!

---------------

My response:
Brings up interesting philosophical points, e.g., how much of our human events are destiny vs. how much is decided by us as individuals? First, I am not convinced that an evolutionary step is REQUIRED for salvation of the human race to occur. Second, we have to ask if it is possible to separate survival of civilization from survival of the human species. If you believe it's OK to separate the two (as I do), then the next question is obvious: How can we deconstruct civilization vs. let it be destroyed via violent chaos?

If evolution is necessary, I think it helps to look at how evolution has happened in the past. If memory serves, there is never a gradual change in any species. Evolution happens in surprising leaps! And if you know anything about how individuals make personal changes, it is by stress/challenge that we grow or develop. Who is to say if we are not already on the precipice of a major evolutionary jump of awareness?

If you'd like to help, here is the link for the full version (in one piece) of this video:
http://www.cascadecreativeservices.com/GH/VideoClip.htm

Feel free to pass it along. And when you do, please encourage people to act assuming that they have power to make changes that will make a difference. We humans are nothing if not self-fulfilling prophesy beings. Positive thoughts=positive results. Pardon me if I sound a bit New-Agey, but I truly believe in that.

2008-12-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

Living As If Mother Earth Matters...She Does.
Liberal vs. conservative, right vs. left, business vs. labor, rich vs. poor, us vs. them. I think the old dichotomies that we have used in the past to frame political discourse are quickly becoming obsolete in modern politics.

The reason? The monumental challenges we as a society, as a civilization face: peak oil, global climate change, economic depression, the increasing rate of species extinction. They all scream out for a redefining of how we think about our world and our place in it. In my view, this is a good thing…and long overdue. For about as long as I have followed politics, I have felt we need to redefine how we frame this raucous conflict we call politics. Old paradigms must fall by the wayside if civilization is to maintain any foothold on this planet as it attempts to adapt to a crashing system based on the ridiculous assumption of unlimited growth and an abuse of nature as if it were a bottomless toilet.

The more we really see that our economy is built on top of a fragile, living planet, the more we see that we are not masters of a dead sphere of rock with a thin coating of life. We are not even stewards of this self-regulating planet, often called “Gaia” by scientists in a new field of study called, "geophysiology," but rather humble participants; partners, if you will. As such, we are responsible for doing our part to obey the laws of mutuality that govern all life on our sacred, life-sustaining sphere.

If that sounds about right to you…if you have this nameless, gnawing feeling in your gut that something is very wrong with what we call civilization, I assure you: you are not alone. My assertion is that it is time to develop new paradigms based on a respect for our true, more humble, place in the system of life on Gaia. Let’s start by working together, using scientific reason, to determine what is right for the planet. Then put our discoveries at the center of all decision-making. Revolutionary? You bet! But such a re-assessment can only bring a lasting harmony and help us to rediscover humanity’s true connection with our living planet. And that would be well worth the price of admission.

Happy Winter Solstice and kind blessings for a New Year...
John

2008-12-19T14:15:00.000-08:00

The arc and poetry of hope...
If we are to survive the coming multiple crises of wars, scarcity and economic decline, global climate change, disease and population growth, we have a clear choice to make: Reject the separate, individualistic approach and embrace community-based self-reliance, or. . .die desperately clutching on to an obsolete paradigm. The arc and poetry of hope has a vital role to play in our success in achieving the more positive of the two possibilities.

What will ease our feelings of impending doom and gloom? Hope in the face of no reason for hope is the answer. I try hard to practice a willful disregard for the temptation to abandon hope. Hopelessness is no longer a luxury we can afford. We can take great comfort from the fact that there are a huge variety of rising movements for change that are all contributing to a better world in their own way. Sometimes we see them as opposing or conflicting, but I see it differently. The movement for human rights, the movement for a spiritual re-awakening, the movement for empowering voters in poor and minority communities, the movement for a life that is simpler and closer to the land, the movement for taking control of our own health and vitality. All these movements and many more represent different lines of attack against an obsolete and corrupt system of death-worship: modern civilization. We need a new way of seeing the world. We need a new way of solving our problems. And that new way is already coming up, as a flower that forces its way through cracks in concrete. Slowly, with sureness of its right to live in the sunlight.

The single most important, if inadequately expressed, notion arising out of all these trends or waves of change is a healthy skepticism of the institutions of our modern society. I happen to share that skepticism. Any society that has institutions that promote the status quo, with little or no regard for what makes sense for the citizenry, is suspect for me.

As I reflect on my adult life, I have found that the motivation for any political action has been a rejection of a culture of selfish, irresponsible, decadent, self-destruction. We are awash with activities and media that entice us to think of ourselves first and everything else last. The antidote, I believe, is for us to embrace a general concept of what I call self-reliance. While the temptation is to interpret that as another aspect of a society hell-bent on worshiping individualism, I wish to clarify. When I think of all the things that are not life-affirming about modern society, I have discovered that there are two fundamental errors that emerge:
a) the scale of our institutions and economic and political activities
b) and the speed that we are expected to pursue these activities, which has, according to my experience, increased dramatically in the past 20 years

Self-reliance is the only way to get off that treadmill. It is an expression of an attitude and a moral compass that can re-orient us in a way that coincides with the way we, as human beings, were designed: to live in small communities of people we know and trust and at a speed that closely matches the speed with which nature unfolds. By self-reliance, I mean a spirited rejection of corporate culture that subtly beckons us to fill the void of our loneliness with the purchase of things. “Work, buy, work, buy and shut up!” our daily dose of mainstream media screams at us. It is, to say the least, a false God, but the complexity comes when we examine HOW to do be free of the mess. Developing community and focusing on the simple pleasures of living and being are some of the first steps to fight back.

2008-12-19T12:56:00.001-08:00

In an effort to help my brother start his own blog (hopefully he's well on his way...), I did a google search...and I came across an entry in an Indonesian person’s blog that quotes me from a Feb. ’07 opinion piece I did for Blue Oregon, an Oregon political blog!

Check it out:

http://kekayaanhati.multiply.com/journal/item/354?&item_id=354&view:replies=reverse

You have to scroll down the page a bit, but it’s worth it!

Kinda trippin’ huh?

So, I guess destiny has asked me to do some more writing. I'm a little encouraged to see that at least SOMEONE listens to what I have to say. The key question is...will it lead to wealth and fame...no, just kidding...I mean, will it or anything I do lead to a rise in political, spiritual and cultural consciousness? The kind one might call a NEW REVOLUTION!? I'll settle for an EVOLUTION, but I'm not so sure the planet can wait for the timeframe that implies. Remains to be seen!

Love and kind blessings to all beings always (want to be sure to cover everyone at all times, right?)
;-)

John

2006-11-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

Commentary - this time written by me!
:-)

As a concerned citizen, lifelong environmentalist and peace activist I often wonder about the best use of my very limited “spare time.” (Do we really have much of any time when we’re not working hard to make ends meet, or recovering from exhaustion?)

My gut feeling is that there is a lot of media-fed “blame the victim” hype going on that prevents us from being really mad at the system. This, of course, benefits the stability of the system to keep it the way it is: daily rape of the planet for the profit of the rich and powerful. In this mental environment it’s just too easy to shy away from ardent, rabble-rousing dissent until we have achieved some imaginary level of eco-perfection. How many times have you wondered, even for a moment, ‘who am I to complain to (fill in the blank), when I have so much to improve in my own life?’ After all, didn’t Gandhi say that change begins with you yourself? Nothing wrong with a little humility, is there? Yet, I know it would take so much money and effort to get that solar water heater installed on my roof, or to install a rain capture system around my yard. In short, shouldn’t we simplify our lives to a level resembling the hobbits in Lord of the Rings? The psychic dilemma most of us face is this: we have worked to raise our awareness, thus our conscience is more acute. So when we think about the disconnect between what changes we need to make and where we personally are it can have the effect of making us somewhat paralyzed.

How much time and effort would it take to study all the issues we care about…to FULLY understand the subtle intricacies of both sides BEFORE we come to a reasoned conclusion sanctioned by all who we know and trust? Just thinking about it wears me out!

The powers that be (I refer to them as “elites”) know these internal dilemmas full well and have arranged to exploit our doubt and guilt through the mainstream media.

Don’t get me wrong, I would not suggest that people STOP pursuing ways to lessen their ecological or carbon dioxide “footprint” on the planet! I suggest, rather, that we find a measure of self-acceptance, a balance if you will, between reducing our own contribution to the environmental problems of our planet and our unique ability to affect changes in public policy. Each person knows where that balance is for themselves. We all have to struggle with our own calculus of what we have time for and what we feel comfortable doing. Some of us will be more comfortable keeping to ourselves (family and friends) to improve our impact on Gaia. Some of us will do nothing but organize for positive change in the world. And some will courageously endeavor to do a little of both.

Personally, I spend a good deal of my spare time and money on lobbying government to do the right thing and precious little on lessening my ecological footprint. In my own calculus, I have decided that an hour calling, writing letters or speaking with friends about an issue is worth ten hours working to put a solar panel on my roof (someday, maybe!). Why? I’ll give you an example: if and when we citizens can push public policy in Washington to change the fuel economy standards for the WHOLE nation, that would trump anything I could do as an individual to lessen my personal eco-footprint. Do I question this calculus every day? Yes. Well, almost every day.

On the plus side for lobbying: our state, county and city government is surprisingly accessible for the average citizen. Assuming you can take a day off during the next legislative session, you can drive up to Salem to visit your representatives (BTW, both houses are now controlled by Democrats). I encourage every citizen to experience this! Just call ahead and set up an appointment to visit your state Senator or Representative and tell him/her of your concerns. If not, take few minutes to call them!

Bottom line: the multiple crises we face demand nothing less than an organized, global shakeup of the way civilization operates. Some might call it a revolution, some might call it a re-alignment of values and attitudes. Wherever you stand, however you put it, it is clear to me that we have a choice between a completely chaotic, “market-driven” descent into hell, or a cooperative, democratic venture into a new era of decentralized economic self-reliance and ecological sustainability. I suggest we commence with the agitating and ruckus-making or we may soon run out of time and lose the ability to choose.

2006-11-19T12:17:00.000-08:00

News item to give us some cheer...

“V” Makes A Mark In DC
Worldwide Interest in RTP ("Right to Petition") Stirred
It’s working.

We are making good use of the powerful concept of en masse activist resistance used in the movie, “V for Vendetta.”

“V” is helping us as we build support for the unalienable Right to a Response from Government to our Petitions for Redress of Grievances regarding the Government’s violation of the war powers, tax, privacy and money clauses of the Constitution.

“V” is helping us as we educate the public about the First Amendment’s guarantee of our Right to Petition Government for Redress of Grievances.

On November 6, 2006, a lone man in a “V” mask and clothing visited security checkpoints at the White House, the main Treasury Building, the Department of Justice and the Capitol, to deliver a letter and the Petitions for Redress. A short videotape of the encounters has made its way around the Internet, including links from sites such as MySpace.com.

The letter informed the leaders of the Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government that up to 100 people in “V” masks and clothing would gather in silent vigil at those locations on November 14th to await a response to the Petitions for Redress.

True to his word, at 11:00 A.M. on Tuesday, November 14, 2006, nearly 100 men and women in “V” masks and clothing could be seen walking along different streets in downtown Washington, DC, all heading to Lafayette Park across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

MORE...(with photos)

2006-11-10T11:25:00.000-08:00

I guess the nation listened to you, Mr. Toles. Thanks for your many contributions!
:-)

2006-11-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

AN OPEN LETTER I FOUND TO HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI:

Read and pass along to your friends and relaties and (MOST importantly) your representatives in Washington:

Nancy,

Congratulations to you in your new post, and mostly, to US VOTERS, who triumphed despite considerable fraud--only because of their VIGILANCE and their determined numbers! We VOTERS are who put you where you are, and who you need to LISTEN TO us now.

We hear that you're going to have lunch today, 11/9/06, with the "President" (We are aware, the proof is in, that BOTH his elections were stolen, hence the quotes...hard to beleive so many of you in Congress haven't factored that in yet!)

So... DON'T be making any promises to Bush about NOT impeaching him, like the nonsense you uttered before: This is NOT YOUR PROMISE TO MAKE!

It will be the PEOPLE's right to decide; Represented by the HOUSE you now reside over.

We are the ones Bush, et al, have harmed the most, while you "Representatives" sat in your cushy seats and kept rolling over to his imperial-style leadership! You have much to repair and much to be ashamed of. YOU OWE US!

We were all hoping, when you said it takes a WOMAN to really clean HOUSE,
you meant it, and THAT would INCLUDE clearing out the huge pile of ELEPHANT POOP we're all neck-deep in, the pile YOU guys have been gingerly stepping around! Do your job, exonerate yourselves in the process: INVESTIGATE Republican abuses of power, starting at the TOP, and then PROSECUTE, to whatever extent necessary. (Bush seems to think it appropriate to HANG Saddam, for killing maybe 1/100th of the people HE has killed.)

Letting these CRIMIANALS go with a slap on the wrist is just going to encourage MORE of this, and the PEOPLE will feel CHEATED again. As it is, they think Dems are hardly better.

The Democrats MUST become an effective OPPOSITION party before you can LEAD.
THIS is what we really voted for in such numbers: a serious CORRECTION, not more smiley-face, suckered "Bi-partisanship".

So, you GO, Lady, and do as you yourself prescribed: CLEAN HOUSE!

By: GrannyBgood on November 10, 2006 at 08:30am

2006-11-09T17:31:00.000-08:00

Just my 2 cents...
A few sobering thoughts on the election and the way things work:

In my view, while the election results were impressive and direct, it is not the American people who control the machinations of our national systems. It is an elite of rich and powerful men (and perhaps a few women). To the extent that we have set the stage for a slowing down of our descent into fascism, we have given ourselves a measure of breathing room and much-needed relief from the darkest days of fear. Much as I hate to give in to my cynical side, I think the elites helped the results along in order to curb the extremism (or rapidness of the descent) of a particularly radical wing of complete dipshits. They did this, I believe, to avoid any potential wrath from us really mad folks. Does anyone wonder about the extraordinary coincidences of "discovering" the Mark Foley scandal JUST before the election and the Armed Forces publications that came out with a rebuke of the way Bush, et al handled the Iraq war THE DAY BEFORE the election. Remind me if there were other events/revelations that seemed suspiciously well timed...and that the media actually covered. And what about the potential for stealing the vote with the HUGE number of e-voting machines? If the right wing of the elites stole twice before, why not this time? Could it be that the Democrats are just the more reasonable wing of the same group of folks?

What we can do about the situation...
now that we have some measure of the elite's attention, we should kick ass in the "nonviolent protests and civil disobedience" area of things.
It is a time when we have the potential to really feel our potential as a people and test the limits of this so-called democracy based on our Constitution. And by all means, there is NO harm in phoning/faxing/emailing our reps and demanding impeachment, but I'll tell ya: I saw an interview with Nancy P. on CNN and she emphatically said there will be no impeachment hearings.
:-(
DAMN! Woulda been SO much fun!

2006-11-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

Whoa! An election to BEHOLD!

Here are a few letters to the editor that appeared on the subject on the NY Times (online version) on Thursday, Nov. 9th...just to share:

The Democrats’ Jolt to the Political Landscape (11 Letters)

Published: November 9, 2006
To the Editor:

Re “Democrats Take House” (front page, Nov. 8):

So President Bush is not “the decider.” We, the American people, are — as it was meant to be.

Emily Rome
New York, Nov. 8, 2006

•

To the Editor:

I watched, disheartened, as our country grew sicker and sicker. On Tuesday, it proved that its legendary self-healing abilities were still in good working order.

Anne Bernays
Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 8, 2006

•

To the Editor:

Now that our electorate has finally woken from its stupor, we should ask ourselves why it took six years to recognize the incompetence and demagogy of this administration and the responsibility of the Republican leadership that blindly followed its lead.

The damage done is enormous, in Iraq, in the United States and around the world. Years have been squandered while the critical issues of our time have gone unattended.

How and why were we fooled?

We have a fascination with personalities instead of policy, a desire to be entertained rather than enlightened, and a need to have an enemy to define us and give our lives meaning.

Thankfully, our democracy is still functioning, though we will not see really meaningful progress until we can disconnect the electoral and legislative processes from the flow of corporate cash.

Let’s not forget that the Senate voted to give President Bush authority to start a war in Iraq. Our euphoria should be short-lived, and our vigilance should be redoubled.

Ken Swensen
Pound Ridge, N.Y., Nov. 8, 2006

•

To the Editor:

Re “A Loud Message for Bush” (news analysis, front page, Nov. 8):

It’s almost too good to believe ... the American people have done the “almost” impossible using the greatest democratic process known to man, the vote!

A president so convinced of his power and his mandate has been handed a message: “You wasted your power and your mandate to act without consensus. The people have shouted, Enough! No more abuses of the Constitution and our freedoms; no more disregard for the values our forefathers fought hard to establish; no more ‘I am, therefore I can!’ ”

Thank you, my fellow Americans, for taking back our great country and for putting us back on the path to leadership and greatness in America and the world!

Doris Fenig
Floral Park, Queens, Nov. 8, 2006

•

To the Editor:

Re “A Loud Message for Bush”:

To President Bush et al.:

Here’s why we Democrats won: For six years, even though the Republicans barely won their elections (if they won at all: see the 2000 election), they have disregarded us, scorned us and demonized us.

The debacle in Iraq is not the problem; it’s a symptom of profound arrogance. Here’s the “loud message”: We don’t like being ignored.

Stephanie Nicholas Acquadro
Westfield, N.J., Nov. 8, 2006

•

To the Editor:

The shift in power in Washington is the result of a desire by midterm voters to cut the engines of President Bush’s wayward ship of state.

That most of us regard the present course as being disastrous is shown by the fact that we made this change with no clear, unified ideas as to how to plot a better path.

We can only hope that the White House will get the message, accept this verdict and unbend somewhat from its rigid ideology.

While there is certainly a need for an accounting by the Bush administration on many matters, the investigative powers that the Democrats have gained are not means for revenge.

Any true wrongdoing must be brought to justice, of course, but our most immediate goal should be to stanch the bleeding in Iraq.

As is so often the case, the way out of this mess seems to lie somewhere in the middle ground. We must all be prepared for sacrifice, to seek compromise where we can find it and tolerance where we can’t.

Like it or not, we are all Americans, all with a common fate. And we’re in trouble.

Reese Lloyd
Atlanta, Nov. 8, 2006

•

To the Editor:

As a Republican, I suppose I could go on and on with excuses for Tuesday’s debacle, but nothing would change what has happened, so let’s look at the bright side. It should be clear to all that much of the recent spike in violence in Iraq was an effort to affect our election.

With this out of the way now, perhaps there will be less of this bloodshed and the Iraqi government can get a handle on the pacification of the country and give us a legitimate reason to leave.

Also, with the election out of the way, the Democrats will have less need to carp at the administration; at the very least, they should start coming up with some solutions of their own.

2006-10-04T16:42:00.000-07:00

My philosophy

This culture wants you to believe love is a rare commodity. Wrong on both counts. It’s neither rare, nor ANY kind of commodity, but the people who run things make money from your desire for love and acceptance. So, it’s important for us to reaffirm (and remind each other) that love is everywhere, in everything. Love is in every molecule of air we breathe and in every cell of our body and the cells of all that’s alive and in the molecules of all that is. And it’s important for you to know that love is divine. Every religion teaches, in some way, that God, or the Divine, is love. So, of course, it becomes obvious, once you begin to be in touch with your intuition this most extraordinary conclusion: All is Sacred.

The difference between us is simply the level of awareness we have about our divinity. It is NOT that one person is good and another evil. It’s all in what you think, or where you put your awareness. That makes all the difference in the world.

2006-09-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

The Impossible Day

It was quite a remarkable day and all anyone can remember, among those who can remember, was that it was a Thursday. No dates or years come to mind, though there are many conflicting claims. The weather that day was, in itself, remarkable: calm and cloudless across the globe. It was a day like no other among days to make you happy to be alive.

On this "impossible day," as it has been referred to, there was, just for that day, an end to suffering around the world. Not a complete end to pain, but the suffering that comes from it. As if the teachings of Buddha had immediately been laid at the feet of all of us: a great bouquet of fresh lotus flowers strewn across the landscape wherever living beings walked. A great awakening to the gift of life came to the hearts of all humans--wherever they lived.

There were no deaths that day and, because of it, no mourning. It was a day's respite from the cycle of life. There were no births that day, as if Mother Earth whispered, 'dear Children, you are too many for me to take care of!' Just for that day there was no fighting or violence. The soldiers could not lift their weapons, nor men lift their arms to batter those who trust them. For that day there were no homes bulldozed in Palestine, nor suicide bombs exploded in Tel Aviv. For that day the torturers could not lift their arms to beat their captives.

For that day, addicts did not feel the stinging pain of need. For that day, thieves stayed home and men with saws could not cut a single tree. For that day, the millions who hunger—from the sub-Saharan region in Africa to the lowlands of Bangladesh—felt no emptiness in their belly. For that day the executives of big business made no calls nor sent emails to crush the planet for profit and leaf blowers everywhere fell silent. For that day people from all walks of life were kind to each other and children played in parks and homes without bickering or complaining or crying.

The world was at peace and so, the news anchors of TV and radio were silent. They were befuddled and could not summon the courage to say that a miracle had visited the planet. But we knew in our hearts what was happening. For that day we did not need the media to tell us about our lives.
The religious praised God and Allah and Brahman and the Goddess. The atheists laughed and cried all day and the agnostics wondered aloud what their eyes and bones could not deny.

In short, it was as if the great spirits of all human history--Buddha, Jesus, Black Elk, Muhammad, Quan Yin, Moses, Krishna, and all Goddesses past and present--formed counsel and created a heaven on Earth. Just for that one day, what everyone had always thought impossible was real. Laid bare beneath our feet, as if our birthright.

The little I can remember I leave for you as a gift. I remember thinking to myself that finally I had proof: it is possible! We can make paradise here on Mother Earth! We do not have to die to find heaven! Paradise is ours to make. We glimpsed the possibility of it one amazing Thursday. The day before was ordinary and the day after was ordinary, but the day after the Impossible Day was ordinary only because we choose to make it ordinary.

I say all this because I see that we have forgotten what the Impossible Day has taught us. The Impossible Day was a gift to help us to see what can be done if we choose a different path. Now we have lost hope, where before we knew what it was like to have hope for one blessed, miraculous day.

I say all this because I believe that there is forgiveness in our hearts. There is, in each and every moment, the potential to decide to have hope—it is NOT something we have to wait for someone else to give to us.

I say all this because I believe with all my heart that who so ever says we cannot accomplish a paradise on earth is a fool that has never glimpsed the truth of their soul. Those who say it is impossible have not glimpsed their own divinity for even a moment. It can be done through the power that comes from collective will informed by compassionate cooperation. And more importantly, much more importantly, it is our destiny to make it real.

2006-09-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

How dare you, Mr. Bush!
Kudos to Mr. Olbermann from MSNBC...

Published on Tuesday, September 12, 2006 by MSNBC
This Hole in the Ground
by Keith Olbermann

Half a lifetime ago, I worked in this now-empty space. And for 40 days after the attacks, I worked here again, trying to make sense of what happened, and was yet to happen, as a reporter.

All the time, I knew that the very air I breathed contained the remains of thousands of people, including four of my friends, two in the planes and -- as I discovered from those "missing posters" seared still into my soul -- two more in the Towers.

And I knew too, that this was the pyre for hundreds of New York policemen and firemen, of whom my family can claim half a dozen or more, as our ancestors.

I belabor this to emphasize that, for me this was, and is, and always shall be, personal.

And anyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft,"or have "forgotten" the lessons of what happened here is at best a grasping, opportunistic, dilettante and at worst, an idiot whether he is a
commentator, or a Vice President, or a President.

However, of all the things those of us who were here five years ago could have forecast -- of all the nightmares that unfolded before our eyes, and the others that unfolded only in our minds -- none of us could have predicted this.

Five years later this space is still empty.

Five years later there is no memorial to the dead.

Five years later there is no building rising to show with proud defiance that we would not have our America wrung from us, by cowards and criminals.

Five years later this country's wound is still open.

Five years later this country's mass grave is still unmarked.

Five years later this is still just a background for a photo-op.

It is beyond shameful.

At the dedication of the Gettysburg Memorial -- barely four months after the last soldier staggered from another Pennsylvania field -- Mr. Lincoln said, "we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract." Lincoln used those words to immortalize their sacrifice.

Today our leaders could use those same words to rationalize their reprehensible inaction. "We cannot dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground." So we won't.

Instead they bicker and buck pass. They thwart private efforts, and jostle to claim credit for initiatives that go nowhere. They spend the money on irrelevant wars, and elaborate self-congratulations, and buying off columnists to write how good a job they're doing instead of doing any job at all.

Five years later, Mr. Bush, we are still fighting the terrorists on these streets. And look carefully, sir, on these 16 empty acres. The terrorists are clearly, still winning.

And, in a crime against every victim here and every patriotic sentiment you mouthed but did not enact, you have done nothing about it.

And there is something worse still than this vast gaping hole in this city, and in the fabric of our nation. There is its symbolism of the promise unfulfilled, the urgent oath, reduced to lazy execution.

The only positive on 9/11 and the days and weeks that so slowly and painfully followed it was the unanimous humanity, here, and throughout the country. The government, the President in particular, was given every possible measure of support.

Those who did not belong to his party -- tabled that.

Those who doubted the mechanics of his election -- ignored that.

Those who wondered of his qualifications -- forgot that.

History teaches us that nearly unanimous support of a government cannot be taken away from that government by its critics. It can only be squandered by those who use it not to heal a nation's wounds, but to take political advantage.

Terrorists did not come and steal our newly-regained sense of being American first, and political, fiftieth. Nor did the Democrats. Nor did the media. Nor did the people.

The President -- and those around him -- did that.

They promised bi-partisanship, and then showed that to them, "bi-partisanship" meant that their party would rule and the rest would have to follow, or be branded, with ever-escalating hysteria, as morally or intellectually confused, as appeasers, as those who, in the Vice President's words yesterday, "validate the strategy of the terrorists."

They promised protection, and then showed that to them "protection" meant going to war against a despot whose hand they had once shaken, a despot who we now learn from our own Senate intelligence Committee, hated al-Qaida as much as we did.

The polite phrase for how so many of us were duped into supporting a war, on the false premise that it had 'something to do' with 9/11 is "lying by implication."

The impolite phrase is "impeachable offense."

Not once in now five years has this President ever offered to assume responsibility for the failures that led to this empty space, and to this, the current, curdled, version of our beloved country.

Still, there is a last snapping flame from a final candle of respect and fairness: even his most virulent critics have never suggested he alone bears the full brunt of the blame for 9/11.

Half the time, in fact, this President has been so gently treated, that he has seemed not even to be the man most responsible for anything in his own administration.

Yet what is happening this very night?

A mini-series, created, influenced -- possibly financed by -- the most radical and cold of domestic political Machiavellis, continues to be televised into our homes.

The documented truths of the last fifteen years are replaced by bald-faced lies; the talking points of the current regime parroted; the whole sorry story blurred, by spin, to make the party out of office seem vacillating and impotent, and the party in office, seem like the only option.

How dare you, Mr. President, after taking cynical advantage of the unanimity and love, and transmuting it into fraudulent war and needless death, after monstrously transforming it into fear and suspicion and turning that fear into the campaign slogan of three elections? How dare you -- or those around you -- ever "spin" 9/11?

Just as the terrorists have succeeded -- are still succeeding -- as long as there is no memorial and no construction here at Ground Zero. So, too, have they succeeded, and are still succeeding as long as this government uses 9/11 as a wedge to pit Americans against Americans.

This is an odd point to cite a television program, especially one from March of 1960. But as Disney's continuing sell-out of the truth (and this country) suggests, even television programs can be powerful things. And long ago, a series called "The Twilight Zone" broadcast a riveting episode entitled "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street."

In brief: a meteor sparks rumors of an invasion by extra-terrestrials disguised as humans. The electricity goes out. A neighbor pleads for calm. Suddenly his car -- and only his car -- starts. Someone suggests he must be the alien. Then another man's lights go on. As charges and suspicion and panic overtake the street, guns are inevitably produced. An "alien" is shot -- but he turns out to be just another neighbor, returning from going for help. The camera pulls back to a near-by hill, where two extra-terrestrials are seen manipulating a small device that can jam electricity. The veteran tells his novice that there's no need to actually attack, that you just turn off a few of the human machines and then, "they pick the most dangerous enemy they can find, and it's themselves."

And then, in perhaps his finest piece of writing, Rod Serling sums it up with words of remarkable prescience, given where we find ourselves tonight: "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes,
prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men.

"For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own -- for the children, and the children yet unborn."

When those who dissent are told time and time again -- as we will be, if not tonight by the President, then tomorrow by his portable public chorus -- that he is preserving our freedom, but that if we use any of it, we are somehow un-American...When we are scolded, that if we merely question, we have "forgotten the lessons of 9/11"... look into this empty space behind me and the bi-partisanship upon which this administration also did not build, and tell me:

Who has left this hole in the ground?

We have not forgotten, Mr. President.

You have.

May this country forgive you.

2006-09-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

"How Deep is Your Ecology?" writings from...Earth First!

A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. - Aldo Leopold

The central insight of John Muir and of the science of ecology was the realization that all things are connected, are related; that human beings are merely one of the millions of species that have been shaped by the process of evolution for three and a half billion years. With that understanding, we can better answer the question, "Why Wilderness?"

Is it because wilderness makes pretty picture postcards? Because it protects watersheds for downstream use by agriculture, industry and homes? Because it cleans the cobwebs out of our heads after a long week in the auto factory or over the video display terminal? Because it preserves resource extraction opportunities for future generations of humans? Because some unknown plant living in the wilds may hold a cure for cancer?

No. It is because wilderness is. Because it is the real world, the flow of life, the process of evolution, the repository of that three and a half billion years of shared travel.
All natural things have intrinsic value, inherent worth. Their value is not determined by what they will ring up on the cash register, nor by whether or not they are good. They are. They exist. For their own sake. Without consideration for any real or imagined value to human civilization.

Even more important than the individual wild creature is the wild interconnected community - the wilderness, the stream of life unimpeded by industrial interference or human manipulation. These twin themes of interconnectedness and intrinsic value form the core of the ideas of such pioneer ecological thinkers as John Muir, Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson, and are the basis for action by Earth First!ers. This biocentric world view, as opposed to the anthropocentric paradigm of civilization (and the reformist position of mainstream environmental groups), has been developed into the philosophy of Deep Ecology by philosophers such as Arne Naess of Norway, John Seed of Australia, Alan Drengson of Canada, and George Sessions, Bill Devall, Dolores LaChapelle and Gary Snyder of the United States, among others.

Earth First!, in short, does not operate from a basis of political pragmatism, or what is perceived to be "possible." Wilderness is not something that can be compromised in the political arena. We are unapologetic advocates for the natural world, for Earth.

2006-09-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

The Body Is NOT a Machine. . .
. . .and if I hear that goddamn analogy one more time, I swear I’m going to scream!

My cousin from back East came to visit me in Eugene last month and we had a little disagreement. He’s a good guy. Compassionate, intelligent, a competent professional guy who gives far more generously of his time to the poor than I, but he’s yet another one of those people our culture has molded to enable the status quo to continue without missing a step.
“The body is like a machine” he said, “a very complex machine,” he argued.

I don’t even know how we got started on the subject. I held back that scream I mentioned before and let him continue. I was raised to be polite. It’s something I’m trying to loosen up a bit. He had an impressive line up of reasonable examples of all that science knows about: brain function, genetics, chemical interactions in the body, etc. Of course I, being a good anarchist, ecofeminist Eugenean raised by New Age parents respectfully disagreed. Unfortunately, I did not have very convincing statements to offer up off the top of my head. I’m the kind of person that likes to mull things over before I speak. Writing it out first is even better. What follows is my answer.

My dear cousin, the body is very much UNLIKE a machine. It is, in fact, not at all helpful to think of it as a machine and rather unhealthy to even think of us as a body, separate from mind and soul.

Machines are dead—we are alive. Electricity animates machines. As for the human body, it is still—after many generations of contemplation and inquiry—a mystery how our bodies are animated. Machines have no soul, we do. Machines are very stupid, we are sometimes smart and, at our best, even wise. Even the greatest computer in the world only truly understands ones and zeros. Nor is there any sign on the horizon that computers will ever be able to think as humans do. The body is, like all living beings, sacred. Machine: profane. Machines cannot love, create poetry, compose music, sculpt, nor think for itself. Human body: 6 more “can do’s” for us.
Our bodies are self-regulating and self-healing with its own wisdom and self-awareness. Machines: not even close.

It’s an exercise in self-oppression if we think our bodies are machines. When machines breakdown we kick them (when we can get away with it) and swear at them. It makes it far too easy to do the same to our bodies when we view them as machines. Instead, we should be asking (lovingly) of ourselves, ‘what am I doing wrong and how can I improve how I live to feel right again?’ And if pollution or the stress of modern life impinges—against our will—on our body’s health, we should be asking, ‘how can I agitate with my neighbors to end the assault?’ If we think our bodies are machines, it makes it easier to hand it over to “experts” who (somehow) know better. Like handing over our cars to the local mechanic. We were never meant to hand over responsibility for our bodies to ANYONE. Instead, we have always lived to ask for loving assistance in healing. It is a moral cop-out to hand over the responsibility and, in so doing, we make it far too easy for doctors and hospitals to squeeze profit from what should be everyone’s right: good health.

If our bodies were very complex machines it wouldn’t feel so awful for an ironworker to go pour molten metal all day or a line worker in a factory to stamp out widgets eight hours a day. Instead we would get a feeling of: ‘ahhh, communion at last!’

The comparison between body and machine is so far off it even asks the wrong question or assumes the wrong assumption. The body, by itself—without the mysterious spark of life---is simply dead: flesh and bone, blood and sinew for only a brief time after that spark is gone. To try and hold the thought in our minds that we are body alone—just to consider what that means—is to imagine death and therefore, no body, nor mind, nor soul.To see ourselves accurately we must begin to think of ourselves as body, mind and soul. That is: BODYMINDSOUL. Period. No spaces, no separation. To look at ourselves in the mirror and say, ‘I have an ugly body’ or ‘I have a beautiful body’ belies the truth of who stands before the mirror. Yet, most of us have practiced this form of self-illusion. We are ALIVE and that’s all that need be said.

Look, bottom line: we have to start questioning how we think, how the society wants us to think, if we’re ever going to really change how things operate in the future. It’s no small feat. Mao says power comes from the barrel of a gun, but I say, power comes from the well of your soul. To understand this is the beginning of our climb up into freedom. The way things are in modern Western cultures, nobody’s even lifting a finger to change things if they think everything’s fine the way it is.

2006-09-11T15:03:00.000-07:00

Is there a meaning to life and do I really care?

According to Abraham Maslow, once you have enough to meet your basic needs the human organism tends to turn his or her attention to questions more "substantive" Like, what is the meaning of life? That is his theory. Mine is a little different. I propose that the very asking of the question is a clear indication that you are not living according to the way we are designed, or more accurately, to ask the question indicates that we are not living in a culture, a society or a tribe that is nurturing enough.

Since we are so removed from the experiences of our ancestors, I am merely speculating on nothing more that my (nagging) intuition, but that intuition has been right so often over the years that I have learned to heed it's wisdom a great deal more carefully.

My theory is that we have evolved to need both intellect and intuition to accurately experience life's remarkable wonders. Even more than that, we are not fully human unless we perceive the world with BOTH intellect AND intuition. We, as human beings, are designed to move through this beautiful life with some balance of using both to perceive. In so doing, we feel and know so much more about life than we could ever as simply rational, intellectual beings. How do you REALLY rationally explain the miracle that springs forth from an acorn and (somehow) becomes a giant Sequoia? How do you REALLY explain (with your brain) the difference between the inanimate objects in our surroundings and that which is alive and self-replicating? What does the spark that animates life look like and what is it made of? Are our rational minds capable of understanding this? I see no signs of it.

Do you know that "something" we feel is missing from our lives, but have no name for it? It is a kind of longing that comes from being starved of a flow of knowing that comes from a developed (and trusted) sense of intuition. It also comes from the hole in our heart when we have no community to nurture us. We are alive in this crippled excuse for a society in spite of these longings. Without these connections, it is easy to see how we can wonder, 'why am I here?' But if we were whole beings capable of the full spectrum of knowing, if we could "see" the radiance of all the blessedness that surrounds us and all the love (in all varieties) we have within easy reach, why would we care to ask such a question?

We who feel this pain of loss can at least name it for ourselves and try to find comfort in each other's arms. We can build community. That is a start.

- February, 2006