Pax Americana

Bikeathon Update

Over at Dohiyi Mir.  Making progress every day!  Or maybe every other day...

ntodd

NTodd Bikeathon

The Virtual Bike Trip To DC is off to a nice start!  I haven't done an exact tally, but thus far there are at least 4 pledges/donations amounting to over 100 dollars, for which I am extremely grateful.  If I haven't sent you my thanks yet, it's either an oversight or perhaps aggressive spam filters causing problems, but please know how much I appreciate the help.

Later I'm going to try creating some sort of graphical representation of progress toward my goal.  I was thinking about a road map, but it might be too hard to fit into the sidebar space and easily update. Will ponder.  In the meantime just like with public radio/TV, if you like what I do then make a pledge for later when I hit the mileage goal, or you can use Paypal (or other means) now assuming I'll make 280 miles!

Peace.

ntodd

Will Bike For Money

Here's the deal: I'm going to DC for to stay with my Pink Friends the last week of May.   My train ticket cost a little over $250 (not counting carbon offsets!) and they ask for a 150-300 dollar donation to offset the DC house costs (plus 10-20 bucks for food).  I am a mere adjunct professor living beyond his means, so I'm once again asking the community for some help.

I do this stuff--the blogging, podcasting and pinking--because I feel compelled to.  Yet I hope some of it has value to people, and if you feel like you can throw some coin my way to defray the costs I voluntarily incur to do my thing I'd really appreciate it.  To sweeten the pot a little this time around I'd like to make the effort a Bikeathon of sorts.  I'll need to be in good shape to keep up with Des, Liz, et al, so it's good for my health along with generating a little revenue while you get to watch my progress on the road.

It is 560 miles from Fletcher, VT, to Washington, DC.  There's no way I could possibly bike that much this early in the season, but I've got a goal of 280 miles before I leave on May 23.  I think that's totally doable because I have just over 85 miles under my belt already and maybe 8 riding opportunities in the intervening time (E found me a bike rental place and some trails in PDX for when I'm there next week)--I just need to average 25 miles a ride and I did a 30-miler today with no problems.

What I'd like to see from people is public pledges (or if you prefer, private ones e-mailed to bikeathon@pritsky.net) in that per-mile vein.  You know, pledge a penny a mile I ride before I leave.  Or a dime.  Or a dollar.  Or just pledge a flat amount.  Or whatever.

Assume I'll hit 280 miles, but I'm hopeful I can go over that.  Then either send me the money now via PayPal or other means (happy to provide a snail mail addy), or wait until I actually hit the goal--I'll also do another 280 mile pledge drive afterward to make up the whole distance to DC.

Can you help?

ntodd

No Wonder Condi Looks Pissed

Via Hecate, I see my friend Des has some GREAT news!

Desiree Fairooz was initially charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer and one count of disorderly conduct for telling Condoleezza Rice,"The blood of millions of Iraqis is on your hands!"

Judge Ringell honored her actions by referring to Thoreau, Gandhi, and Dr. Martin Luther King, all models of resistance, and explained how they understood they would eventually spend time in jail for their acts. He told Desiree," Some day you'll have to accept the consequences of your acts, but not in this forum [his court]." He found her guilty of "disorderly conduct" and could have given her 90 days in jail, but instead he sentenced her to 5 days suspended sentence, 3 months of unsupervised probation, and $50 for a mandatory victim's fund.

Not only do such heroes understand they'll spend time in jail, often they actively court arrest and imprisonment as it can be a useful tactic.  Regardless, I'm so pleased that this "offense" was weighed and found not to be worthy of any time in the clink.

On a personal note, I will be starting a Bikeathon push very, very soon to raise monies that will help me pay for my next stay at the Code Pink DC House.  I'm extremely anxious to get back down there and work with Des, Liz, Ellen, Gael, Leslie, Jes, and all the other awesome Pinkers later this month!

ntodd

Homage To Catalonia

Hmmm...

April 25th 2008, marks the Seventieth anniversary of the publishing of George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, a biographical account of Orwell's serving in a "revolutionary" communist force, the POUM, in the Spain in the year 1936. The soldiers of the POUM, along with other communist, anarchist and miscellaneous forces, were tasked with helping to hold Franco's forces at bay until such a time as the International Brigades could train an army capable of permanently ending the Fascist war plans.
...

One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.

[...] The people who wrote pamphlets against us and vilified us in the newspapers all remained safeat home, or at worst in the newspaper offices of Valencia, hundreds of miles from the bullets and the mud [...]

all the usual war-stuff, the tub-thumping, the heroics, the vilification of the enemy --all these were done, as usual, by people who were not fighting and who in many cases would have run a hundred miles sooner than fight.

Now, if that doesn't sound familiar to you, well, perhaps I woke up in the wrong blogósfera this morning.

The best part is that Homage to Catalonia is available online at George Orwell.Org.  It's only about 105 or so pages long, including appendices, just the right size for a rainy weekend.

Indeed.  And if I didn't have a bunch of grading to do, I'd curl up with my laptop and read Homage right now...

ntodd

History's Greatest Monster

Code Pink sends gifts:

Dear Former President Jimmy Carter,

Thank you for your inexhaustible work toward creating peace in the Middle East. We are deeply grateful for your trip to Syria; we hope the U.S. government will follow your lead and come to understand that we have to talk to Hamas if we want peace to flourish in the region. For your bravery and wisdom, we present you with this Pink Badge of Courage.
...
You serve as a beautiful role model for us, President Carter. Thank you for your example and your continuing commitment to peace.

With gratitude and admiration,

p.s. We also wish to give you this Jerusalem Hope Candle. Crafted by Israeli and Palestinian women, this candle embodies the peace and reconciliation you are working so hard to achieve. May its glow inspire you as you continue your important work for peace.

Sign here.

ntodd

Going Pink Again

Just confirmed a stint at the Code Pink DC house from May 24th to 30th!  I wanted to go down a bit earlier, but I'm trying to juggle end of the semester, visits with E in PDX and BTV, and trying to get some work done around the house.  Still looking ahead to another stay in August before school starts up again.  Can't wait!

ntodd

Activists Online And Off

Apropos of the panel discussion I'll be involved with at EschaCon08 in Philly on Saturday (h/t Moon):

Rachel Lara Cohen and Natalie Pitimson carried out random sample surveys at three different protests to determine the kinds of people attending and the reasons for doing so. They found some intriguing things. First of all, about a quarter of participants were 'demo virgins' - on their first ever protest. Seasoned, hardcore activists, those who attended all six post-9/11 major antiwar demonstrations, were a minority - about a third of sampled participants. This militates against the view which sees the antiwar protests as embodying a single pool of activists which just shrinks. Of course large numbers people attend one demonstration but can't make others or get disillusioned or decide to be there 'in spirit', but getting new people to attend doesn't just mean having more feet on the ground - it means more discussion, more arguments, more connections made, and a larger base for future 'hardcore' activists. It means that the momentum is still very much there.
...
Over 90% of people who attend the demonstrations actually use the internet, which is higher than the corresponding figure for the reference population (see Oxford University's most recent figures), but most people don't rely on the internet to hear about protests (those who do tend to be older and are better able to find useful information on the net, which dispels the myth about young people being especially technophilic). Those who take part in online activism tend to be those who are very active offline. Most people who do use the internet find it useful for sharing information, but not as an independent activism tool in itself.

Not sure if we'd see similar patterns in the US or not, but it's still interesting...

ntodd

PS--This is post 500!

Gandhi Was Such A Hypocrite!

Yup, I'm often called a self-righteous hypocrite, which puzzles me.  But hey, at least Gandhi had to deal with the same crap:

A votary of truth is often obliged to grope in the dark. Ahimsa is a comprehensive principle. We are helpless mortals caught in the conflagration of himsa. The saying that life lives on life has a deep meaning in it. Man cannot for a moment live without consciously or unconsciously committing outward himsa. The very fact of his living eating, drinking and moving about necessarily involves some himsa, destruction of life, be it ever so minute. A votary of ahimsa therefore remains true to his faith if the spring of all his actions is compassion, if he shuns to the best of his ability the destruction of the tiniest creature, tries to save it, and thus incessantly strives to be free from the deadly coil of himsa. He will be constantly growing in self-restraint and compassion, but he can never become entirely free from outward himsa.

Then again, because underlying ahimsa is the unity of all life, the error of one cannot but affect all, and hence man cannot be wholly free from himsa. So long as he continues to be a social being, he cannot but participate in the himsa that the very existence of society involves. When two nations are fighting, the duty of a votary of ahimsa is to stop the war. He who is not equal to that duty, he who has no power of resisting war, he who is not qualified to resist war, may take part in war, and yet whole-heartedly try to free himself, his nation and the world from war.

I had hoped to improve status and that of my people through the British Empire. Whilst in England I was enjoying the protection of the British Fleet, and taking shelter as I did under its armed might, I was directly participating in its potential violence. Therefore if I desired to retain my connection with the Empire and to live under its banner, one of three courses was open to me: I could declare open resistance to the war and, in accordance with the law of Satyagraha, boycott the Empire until it changed its military policy; or I could seek imprisonment by civil disobedience of such of its laws as were fit to be disobeyed; or I could participate in the war on the side of the Empire and thereby acquire the capacity and fitness for resisting the violence of war. I lacked this capacity and fitness, as I thought there was nothing for it but to serve in the war.

I make no distinction, from the point of view of ahimsa, between combatants and non- combatants. He who volunteers to serve a band of dacoits, by working as their carrier, or their watchman while they are about their business, or their nurse when they are wounded, is as much guilty of dacoity as the dacoits themselves. In the same way those who confine themselves to attending to the wounded in battle cannot be absolved from the guilt of war.

Gandhi was clearly bad for serving during the Boer War.  And for sleeping with young girls.  Similarly, I am bad for not setting myself on fire to protest the Washington Redskins mascot, and for not going to Tibet this weekend to fight the Chinese.

Thus, none of you need fast for impeachment or resist war taxes.

QED

ntodd

March 19 Iraq War Blogswarm

Why the heck not?

This blogswarm will promote blog postings opposing the war in Iraq and calling for a full withdrawal of foreign occupying forces in Iraq. Five years of an illegal and catastrophic war is five years too many. On the March 19 anniversary of the conquest of Iraq by the Bush Administration, there needs to be a loud volume of voices countering the pro-war propaganda from far too many politicians and corporate media outlets.

Trying to Decide What to Write?

You are encouraged to write against the war from a variety of perspectives. The war is a huge problem, and that makes it an enormous subject for blogging. Here are some things you might want to consider if you are having difficulty making up your mind:

    * Attend an anti-war event and report on it.

    * Interview military families and veterans.

    * NEW IDEA: Blog reactions to Pacifica's Live Radio Coverage of the Winter Soldier testimony by Iraq Vets would be of great interest. Coverage from the event in Washington, DC would be great too. This event deserves all the coverage it can possibly get.

    * Examine current plans and the rather shadowy oil laws as well as long term military bases.

    * Compare and contrast candidates stated intentions on what they claim they will do with their records.

    * Publicize online action alerts by pro-peace organizations.

    * Discuss the economic impacts of the war on people in Iraq and/or western countries.

    * Discuss the casualties on both sides.

    * Explore issues and impacts often ignored by most media outlets.

    * Analyze war propaganda.

What are you going to do to mark the 5th anniversary of murder?

ntodd

(x-posted at Dohiyi Mir)

Pink Hats Of Mass Destruction

Dirk points out Hindrocket's latest inanity:

Someone set off an "improvised explosive device" in front of the military recruiting station there; the bomb blew a hole in the building's door. No one was hurt.

The Times Square recruiting station "has been the site of regular antiwar protests since the start of the Iraq war." Given the increasing virulence of attacks on the military and on military recruiting facilities by antiwar groups like Code Pink, most notably the repeated confrontations in Berkeley, one could speculate that a liberal group is the most likely culprit. So far, however, there are no suspects.

Yes, because our counter recruitment always turns violent.

ntodd

Potlucky!

Some pics from Wednesday's CodePink Potluck.

ntodd

Attitudes Toward Social Behavior

Jonathan Corey Ed. M., doctoral candidate, Behavioral Science, Department of Psychology, University of RI, wants you to take a survey:

The is a study of individual differences in perceptions and attitudes toward violence or nonviolence for certain behaviors and interpersonal interactions. Your answers will help us to increase knowledge about how various scales relating to violence, nonviolence and interpersonal interactions compare to each other.

You will see a variety of types of questions in the study. One part is a list of actions, and we ask you to select a number to indicate your opinion of how violent each action is to you. Other sets of questions will ask you to report your attitudes and responses toward a number of scenarios. We ask you to select a number or other answer to indicate your response to the situation. There are also a small number of demographic questions to help us understand more about who has taken part in this study.

There is an incentive to participate in this study. Participants who complete the survey and voluntarily provide a valid email contact address at the end of this questionnaire will be entered into a random drawing for a SanDisk Sansa M240 1-GB MP3 Player. Addresses for the drawing are not linked to the research data in any way. The winner will be contacted by email and the MP3 player can be shipped to any valid mailing address provided to the researcher via email. All submitted email addresses, including the winner’s mailing address will be destroyed at the conclusion of the study.

Your ratings will be anonymous. Do not put your name in any text boxes in the survey.

YOU MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD to be in this research project.

It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete the survey.

It's got some of the usual annoying "that's such a false dichotomy!" type questions, but that's necessary for this kind of thing.  Plenty of "truth factor" questions to smooth things out, and it was interesting to consider what they're driving at with the study vis my attitudes toward nonviolence.

It didn't actually take 15 minutes, but I do these things kinda quickly.  Regardless, if you've got a little time, please take the survey.

ntodd

Chicken ala Democrat

Rolling Stone:

Quietly, while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been inspiring Democrats everywhere with their rolling bitchfest, congressional superduo Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have completed one of the most awesome political collapses since Neville Chamberlain. At long last, the Democratic leaders of Congress have publicly surrendered on the Iraq War, just one year after being swept into power with a firm mandate to end it.

Solidifying his reputation as one of the biggest pussies in U.S. political history, Reid explained his decision to refocus his party's energies on topics other than ending the war by saying he just couldn't fit Iraq into his busy schedule. "We have the presidential election," Reid said recently. "Our time is really squeezed."

There was much public shedding of tears among the Democratic leadership, as Reid, Pelosi and other congressional heavyweights expressed deep sadness that their valiant charge up the hill of change had been thwarted by circumstances beyond their control — that, as much as they would love to continue trying to end the catastrophic Iraq deal, they would now have to wait until, oh, 2009 to try again. "We'll have a new president," said Pelosi. "And I do think at that time we'll take a fresh look at it."

Excuses are like assholes: everbody got one.  Speaking of which, Taibbi clearly stole the term chicken dove from me...

ntodd

Using all the frightening little skills That Science has made available!

Recieved this in my Gmail box the other day. If you can't figure out why this is twenty different kinds of wrong I can't help you:

Webmaster,

My name is [redacted by this post's author, even though it's more than I deserve, gosh, he must be a nice fella], and I’m the Outreach Manager for [redacted; they're not getting any hits off of this]. I’m writing to you because I think that the new RealPlayer® might be of value to you and A Blog Named Sue: Iraq War’s readers. As a blog that covers the war, the new RealPlayer would make be a great tool for saving the latest news clippings, front line videos, or any other media related to Iraq.

The new RealPlayer (www.realplayer.com), has changed quite a bit since the last version.  The new version is now more of a video tool and utility that enables a user to instantly download streaming videos in the most popular formats (except DRM-protected videos) to their hard drive and to share the links with friends from the library they are creating. The player also enables users to watch videos without an Internet connection.

Once the player is installed, a user watching videos on YouTube, Break, Metacafe and other similar sites will see a “Download This Video” button automatically appear directly above the video, enabling them to save it to their hard drive with a single click. 

With the new RealPlayer Plus, a user can transfer downloaded videos to their iPod and burn them to DVD to watch whenever and wherever they want. 

I’d love to send you a complimentary copy of RealPlayer Plus (which is normally $39.99) for you to check out, and if you like it, write a review.  If you’re interested, please email me back and I’ll send you the download URL, username and password for such.

We have also developed a backend electronic press kit for the RealPlayer containing a how-to slideshow and videos (including a Zombie demonstration of the RealPlayer), banners, press releases and much more for your convenience. You can find this at  [redacted; buy an ad next time, OK?].

Please confirm receipt of this email and let me know if you would like to receive a complimentary copy of the player.  Thanks.

Respectfully,

[Redacted - see above]

Gandhi famously said, "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." I'm not sure where "Then they use you as an unwitting pawn to help them sell stuff" fits into that process. I can only imagine how that form letter would have read if I was a porn blogger.

I'm a video production professional; I rely on advertising, PR and marketing people in order to feed my family. The art just won't do that for me, at least not yet, and most likely not ever. I have nothing against advertising and marketing per se...but goddamn it, shit like this makes me want to take the last fifteen years of my life, shout, "Fuck it all!" and throw them out the window. Maybe I should open a bike shop. I don't really know how to fix a bike, but come on, two wheels and a couple of gears - how hard can it be?

My point is this: even though we all have to advertise and market our stuff to get by in this world - hell, most blogs take ads - there are things that just are not done. I say no to stuff all the time, and I catch hell for it. Most people I know in the field do the same. I just worked with a client whose career at a certain agency took a big hit because she wouldn't work a fast food account. You're never obliged to do something that is in the worst taste imaginable, even though it seems someone else is always willing to do so. Obviously, using the war to help sell your crap media player falls into that category, although I guarantee you the people who dreamed up this campaign will see my protest as a sign that they're "gutsy" and "willing to push the envelope" to "get the job done."

Whatever. I suppose it's encouraging that us dirty fucking hippies are now seen as a desirable demographic. Or something.

(x-posted at A Blog Named Sue)

We Win T-shirts

Whoohoo!  Came in third in the CodePink Peace Pledge dealio, so I win:

Women in Film Supporting Peace Gift Package: CODEPINK t-shirt autographed by Mia Kirschner, star of The L-Word, Lead Us Out of Iraq poster signed by Jane Fonda, and a copy of CODEPINK’s Women Say No to War DVD.

Congrats to Susan for her late surge into second, and Dana who stomped on the two of us like, uh...a nonviolent stomper person not stomping on a bug so as to not mess up her karma.  I might not be getting a free trip down to DC, but I'm still going in the February/March timeframe and will proudly wear my autographed shirt.  And thanks to my friends at CodePink for the pledge project and their continuing hard work on our behalf, not to mention all the people who participated.

Think Pink!

ntodd

We Win Awards

Congrats to us, Pax Americans!

[makes note to re-re-send login stuff to Monkeyfister]

ntodd

Yes, I Get The Point

Apropos of nothing:

RICK: Don't you sometimes wonder if it's worth all this?  I mean what you're fighting for?

LASZLO: We might as well question why we breathe.  If we stop breathing, we'll die.  If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die.

RICK:  What of it?  Then it'll be out of its misery.

LASZLO:  You know how you sound, Monsieur Blaine?  Like a man who's trying to convince himself of something he doesn't believe in his heart.  Each of us has a destiny, for good or for evil.

Just remember kids, real life ain't like the movies...

ntodd

Assault On Precinct 13

In response to what clearly must have been a satirical comment by long-time, valued reader Francois Tremblay, I did a quick google on massacres at police stations:

• 2001 - Nepali Maoists massacre police in night of attacks
• 2004 - 21 shot dead in Iraq police station massacre
• 2005 - Armed Group Attacks Gambella  Town Police Station

And of course, let's not forget this scene:

VUKOVICH: Why don't you just stretch out here and get some sleep.  It'll take your mom a good hour to get here from Redlands.
SARAH: I can't sleep.
VUKOVICH: Go ahead.  You're safe.  There're thirty cops in this building.

We all know what happens next...

ntodd

Another Person I Met

Joanne Sheehan, who wrote an article about Constructive Program in the War Resisters League's magazine, WIN.  I've been big on a Constructive Program for, like, ever, and spoke of her article in a Paxcast a coupla months ago.  It was really neat to chat with her over the weekend, plus her partner Rick made me almost believe I could live on simple, vegetarian meals.  Even stuff with squash.

ntodd

Snack Pink!

I've been looking through the Code Pink store in my continuing quest to acquire pink clothing so as I don't look like a total dork amongst the Codepinkers.  This item immediately caught my eye:

Peace Panties! No Peace, No Pussy!

Baby Rib Flat Bottom Panty, available in sizes 1 through 3 (size 1 is a small, 2 is medium, 3 is large).

A low-rise panty with 70’s appeal.

100% Baby Rib cotton, combed for softness and comfort, with elastic trim

Baby Rib crotch liner

Form fitting

Fits low on hips

Lysistratic Nonaction Panties?  I think I'll buy some for all the women in my life...

ntodd

Offerings

AP:

They are lined up like footnotes to the names etched on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial's polished black granite, leaning against its base, some a collective tribute to the fallen, others bearing a message for just one of the dead.

An American Legion uniform cap from Kansas, a police patch from a town in Georgia, a note to "GRAMDADAD" that appears to have been written by the unpracticed hand of a young child. A homemade plaque with plastic red poppies pasted to it, dedicated to a "Band of Brothers." Poems from middle school students.
...
Since the memorial was completed in 1982, it has become a de facto shrine with more than 100,000 offerings for the dead and messages from survivors left by the millions who visit it each year.
...
The nature of the mementos has changed. In the beginning, it was mostly veterans who dropped off unit patches, Purple Hearts, photos of lost soldiers or old pairs of Army boots. But with many veterans now in their 60s, members of a younger generation — including grandchildren of veterans and the fallen — are making contributions.

On a recent day, a baseball card from a boy named Nicholas was propped against the wall, with a note that read "For my grandfather."

The practice wasn't foreseen by the memorial's planners, but the first offering came even before the monument was completed, a Purple Heart laid in the foundation by the brother of a dead soldier.

At the beginning, a memorial staffer collected the items on the belief that people would want them back.

When they continued to pile up, with little sign of abating, the Park Service decided in 1986 to treat the items as museum pieces.
...
Park Service workers collect the mementoes every few days and ship them to a temperature-controlled warehouse in an office park in suburban Landover, Md., about 20 miles away.

Each piece is catalogued. Some are kept in locked cabinets, others alongside long shelves of antique furniture from other historic sites. The warehouse holds more than 45 different collections, and the Park Service says there is no easy way to say how much it costs to store the mementoes from the wall.

Even seemingly mundane items are kept, like a Washington Metro subway ticket with 15 cents on it, to avoid discarding something that might have a hidden meaning. Some show significant forethought, like a carefully made homemade replica carousel; others seem to be tokens left by people unexpectedly moved by the monument. Flowers and other perishables are not kept.
...
Much of the trend likely stemmed from the diverse backgrounds of U.S. troops, some of whom came from cultures where such items were a part of burial traditions, said Kristin Hass, a University of Michigan professor who wrote a 1998 book on the practice of leaving messages and mementos at the wall.

"They are speaking to the dead and to the place of the dead in culture," she said.
...
John Rowan, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America, says seeing the names is what motivates people to leave things behind, a way to commune with the dead. Rowan left the only poem he wrote at the memorial in the 1980s.

"It's a personal connection. It's a way to attempt to reach through the wall to a person's whose name is there," he said.

I've been to the Wall a few times, including twice this year.  The last was especially moving because a dear friend was finally able to visit a friend of his, 40 years dead.  Simply touching the names, whether you know the lives behind them or not, and seeing other people do the same is always a powerful experience.

Would that we never needed to build another war memorial...

ntodd

Extra Credit

From the chapter entitled "A Tussle With Power" in Gandhi's autobiography:

Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation and a wicked deed disapprobation, the doer of the deed, whether good or wicked always deserves respect or pity as the case may be. 'Hate the sin and not the sinner' is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practised, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.

This ahimsa is the basis of the search for truth. I am realizing every day that the search is vain unless it is founded on ahimsa as the basis. It is quite proper to resist and attack a system, but to resist and attack its author is tantamount to resisting and attacking oneself. For we are all tarred with the same brush, and are children of one and the same Creator, and as such the divine powers within us are infinite. To slight a single human being is to slight those divine powers, and thus to harm not only that being but with him the whole world.

Believe it or not, I've offered extra credit to my TCP/IP and InfoSec students for telling me who said "hate the sin..."  The most popular answer is "Jesus" or "it's in the Bible." 

One might argue that Augustine said it first:

Et hoc quod dixi de oculo non figendo, etiam in ceteris inveniendis, prohibendis, indicandis, convincendis vindicandisque peccatis, diligenter et fideliter observetur, cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum.

I've seen the highlight phrase interpreted the same as Gandhi's precept, though more literally translated as, "with love for mankind and hatred of sins."  Given the Mahatma's liberal use of concepts from many religions (the quoted text from his autobiography also appears to be inspired by Surah 5:32), it's possible he incorporated the Augustinian idea into his notion of ahimsa, though he applied it I think in a more specific sense.

ntodd

International Day of Non-Violence

Happy birthday, Mahatma!

I am honoured to address the General Assembly on the first commemoration of the International Day of Non-Violence.

The United Nations was created in the hope that humanity could not only end wars, it could eventually make them unnecessary.  The founders hoped that our Organization could help stop violence by spreading a culture of peace, promoting tolerance and advancing human dignity.

These same ideals sum up the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, whose birthday we celebrate today.  His peaceful struggles against unjust regimes in South Africa and India captured the world’s imagination.

When charged with agitation against the State in 1922, Gandhi responded:  “Non-violence is the first article of my faith.  It is also the last article of my creed.”

In this way, by incorporating non-violence into everyday life, the Mahatma inspired countless individuals to lead better, more meaningful lives.

Mahatma Gandhi is also a personal hero of mine.  Since I began my diplomatic career in India early in the 1970s, I have carried with me his definition of the seven sins:  “Wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; science without humanity; knowledge without character; politics without principle; commerce without morality; and worship without sacrifice.”

The Mahatma’s inspiration is needed now more than ever.  All around us we see communities increasingly mired in rising intolerance and cross-cultural tensions.

We see extremist dogma and violent ideologies gaining ground, as moderate forces retreat.

And we have witnessed lethal force being used against unarmed and non-violent marchers who exemplified the very spirit of the Mahatma’s teachings.

May this International Day of Non-Violence give us strength to advance true tolerance and non-violence at every level, from the individual all the way up to the State.

Surely there could be no better time to celebrate it than in these early weeks of the United Nations General Assembly -- an occasion when we come together as nations and as human beings united in our yearning for peace.

May this Day help spread Mahatma Gandhi’s message to an ever wider audience, and hasten a time when every day is a day without violence.

Amen. 

Sadly, I'm having a hard time following Gandhi's admonition to hate the sin and love the sinner given today's Blackwater testimony and the astroturf blogs defending the violent mercs...

ntodd

Operation Champagne

Journalist: M. Ben M'Hidi, don't you think it's a bit cowardly to use women's baskets and handbags to carry explosive devices that kill so many innocent people?

Ben M'Hidi: And doesn't it seem to you even more cowardly to drop napalm bombs on defenseless villages, so that there are a thousand times more innocent victims? Of course, if we had your airplanes it would be a lot easier for us. Give us your bombers, and you can have our baskets.

About an hour into The Battle of Algiers, French paratroops arrive and march triumphantly in the streets.  The scene immediately brought to mind a scene in Ben Hur:

The array after a while came into view of the two upon the house of the Hurs. First, a vanguard of the light-armed--mostly slingers and bowmen--marching with wide intervals between their ranks and files; next a body of heavy-armed infantry, bearing large shields,
and hastoe longoe, or spears identical with those used in the duels before Ilium; then the musicians; and then an officer riding alone, but followed closely by a guard of cavalry; after them again, a column of infantry also heavy-armed, which, moving in close order, crowded the streets from wall to wall, and appeared to be without end.

The brawny limbs of the men; the cadenced motion from right to left of the shields; the sparkle of scales, buckles, and breastplates and helms, all perfectly burnished; the plumes nodding above the tall crests; the sway of ensigns and iron-shod spears; the bold, confident step, exactly timed and measured; the demeanor, so grave, yet so watchful; the machine-like unity of the whole moving mass--made an impression upon Judah, but as something felt rather than seen. Two objects fixed his attention--the eagle of the legion first--a gilded effigy perched on a tall shaft, with wings outspread until they met above its head. He knew that, when brought from its chamber in the Tower, it had been received with divine honors.

The officer riding alone in the midst of the column was the other attraction. His head was bare; otherwise he was in full armor. At his left hip he wore a short sword; in his hand, however, he carried a truncheon, which looked like a roll of white paper. He sat upon
a purple cloth instead of a saddle, and that, and a bridle with a forestall of gold and reins of yellow silk broadly fringed at the lower edge, completed the housings of the horse.

While the man was yet in the distance, Judah observed that his presence was sufficient to throw the people looking at him into angry excitement. They would lean over the parapets or stand boldly out, and shake their fists at him; they followed him with loud cries,
and spit at him as he passed under the bridges; the women even flung their sandals, sometimes with such good effect as to hit him. When he was nearer, the yells became distinguishable--"Robber, tyrant, dog of a Roman! Away with Ishmael! Give us back our Hannas!"

Unlike those Judeans, the French settlers all welcomed the arrival of their paratroops (forgetting, perhaps, the disaster at Dien Bien Phu?).  Of course people benefiting from colonial/imperial force would be happy to have an occupying power march in--those occupied weren't so thrilled.  Nobody in this case harmed Colonel Mathieu during the grand military entrance, accidentally or otherwise, but the subsequent repression was just as bad as anything brought to bear by the Romans or the Nazis, despite the good colonel's protests later in the film.

The very next scene is of Mathieu briefing his officers, pointing out the number of daily attacks with a chart in the background reminiscent of those we see in Brookings' Iraq Index.  Small wonder that US commanders were supposed to view the movie.  Doubtless some internalized the lessons, but the real Deciders clearly did not.

Interestingly, the campaign for independence was a mix of violence and noviolent tactics:

To increase international and domestic French attention to their struggle, the FLN decided to bring the conflict to the cities and to call a nationwide general strike. The most notable manifestation of the new urban campaign was the Battle of Algiers, which began on September 30, 1956, when three women placed bombs at three sites including the downtown office of Air France. The FLN carried out an average of 800 shootings and bombings per month through the spring of 1957, resulting in many civilian casualties and inviting a crushing response from the authorities. The 1957 general strike, timed to coincide with the UN debate on Algeria, was imposed on Muslim workers and businesses. General Jacques Massu, who was instructed to use whatever methods were necessary to restore order in the city, frequently fought terrorism with acts of terrorism. Using paratroopers, he broke the strike and systematically destroyed the FLN infrastructure there. But the FLN had succeeded in showing its ability to strike at the heart of French Algeria and in rallying a mass response to its appeals among urban Muslims. Moreover, the publicity given the brutal methods used by the army to win the Battle of Algiers, including the widespread use of torture, cast doubt in France about its role in Algeria.

Just before that first general strike, there is this exchange between two of the "heads" of the FLN "tapeworm" (as Mathieu calls it):

Ben M'Hidi: Jaffar says you weren't in favor of the strike.
Ali La Pointe: No, I wasn't.
Ben M'Hidi: Why not?
Ali La Pointe: Because we were ordered not to use arms.
Ben M'Hidi: Acts of violence don't win wars. Neither wars nor revolutions. Terrorism is useful as a start. But then, the people themselves must act. That's the rationale behind this strike: to mobilize all Algerians, to assess our strength.

The strike was successful in mobilizing Algerians to the point that the French did all they could to break it up and create incidents to justify further repression.  In the end, the UN chose not to intervene and the FLN again resorted to violence.  And ultimately was rooted out.

After the battle was "won" general command agrees, "We'll settle for Algiers."  Not unlike how we've settled for Fallujah, Tal Afar, and Anbar over the last few years in the vain hope that these isolated "victories" signaled ultimate success as it is announced over loudspeakers to the subjugated population that they should trust us because we are protecting them and bringing freedom.

Yes, protecting.  Freedom.  After reporting M'Hidi's "suicide" in 1957, the Colonel posed this question to the French press: Should we remain in Algeria? If you answer "yes," then you must accept all the necessary consequences.

This is precisely the same question that has been asked of all Iraq war apologists.   Should we remain in Iraq?  They answer YES!  Thus, they accept all the necessary consequences: torture, murder, Iraqi civil war, instability in the Middle East, increased global terrorism...but it's a small price to them, I guess, so long as we kill them over there so we don't fill our diapers over here.

Anyway, by 1960 a bunch of intellectuals and commies signed the Manifesto of the 121 decrying the use of torture and such in Algeria.  Then there was a coup:

In April 1961, Charles de Gaulle, head of the French government, indicated that he was prepared to negotiate with the Algerian nationalists.

Leading sections of the French military in Algeria, who were strongly opposed to Algerian independence, staged a coup on 21-22 April 1961 in the city of Algiers. They were initially very successful, encountering little open resistance from loyal sections of the military. There was a possibility of a parallel putsch in France, or an invasion.

Resistance to the coup developed rapidly. Trade unions and political parties called a one-hour general strike, and ten million workers joined. After some delay, de Gaulle, in a broadcast on 23 April, called for noncooperation with the coup by both civilians and troops. Although the rebel generals controlled the Algerian media, French broadcasts were picked up by many French soldiers in Algeria on their transister radios.

In Algeria, many soldiers refused to cooperate with the coup. Many pilots flew their transport planes or fighters out of Algeria. Others faked mechanical problems. Many soldiers just stayed in their barracks. Others caused inefficiency in administration and communications.

After four days the coup disintegrated. Not a single shot had been fired at the rebels.

Another general strike in 1961 demonstrated that the FLN still had practically unanimous support amongst the population, and the following year the Evian Accords were signed.

So what did France gain from maintaining a presence in occupied territory against the will of the local population and its own people?  And which response to occupation was more effective for the Algerians: terrorism or nonviolent action?

Ben M'Hidi: Acts of violence don't win wars. Neither wars nor revolutions. Terrorism is useful as a start. But then, the people themselves must act. That's the rationale behind this strike: to mobilize all Algerians, to assess our strength.

Would that the Iraqi insurgency required their commanders watch The Battle of Algiers.  Regardless, I submit it is incumbent on the mightier occupying force to demonstrate its greater moral power by restraining itself and withdrawing.  Bush and the apologists would have you believe leaving is a sign of weakness, when really it is the ultimate demonstration of strength.

ntodd

[Update: added the exchange with Ali La Pointe as I'd originally intended.]

Inside Out Bodies

No, not gruesome pictures of US troops or Iraqis blown up or anything about the war.  I discovered that the Bodies exhibition was in Arlington and decided to check it out.

It's really, really, really gross.  Fascinating.  And gross.  Visible bones, muscles, and nerves, sliced up bodies, exposed guts, infected organs, dessicated and dissected dicks.  Ick.  But truly, it's wicked fascinating and if you get a chance to see it, go. 

One interesting comment left by a visitor:

I feel more confident in my role as a medic to treat fellow soldiers.

Okay, so I did make it about the war.  Sorry.  Speaking of which, I bought Nancy and Harry each a souvenir:

Figured they could carry these around with them easier than the big ones I sent earlier...

ntodd

On Blogging

I've been thinking a lot about the value of the blogs. The importance of bringing together a far-flung community of many different people who have one main thing in common. But really, the blogs are much more than that. At dinner last night when, calmly for once, discussing the total uselessness of our current war and the nightmare to come if we go into Iran, I noticed something. The gentleman I was talking with had been in the military for 27 years. Something to do with aiming missiles. You know what, I was at least as well informed as he on most topics, and on some, I actually knew more. And this from someone who never had the slightest interest in military strategy. In fact, last night when we started discussing strategy, this gentleman started addressing his comments to my husband, cause ya know, the little woman wouldn't know any of that shit. Yet I was able to intelligently and correctly discuss strategy as if I was an old hand at it. Reading Gilliard's blog all those years wasn't wasted. Nor has been hanging out at Eschaton waaaaaaaay too much. Today at the vigi,l when some young man in an s.u.v. asked if I had forgotten 9/11 I was able to, once again calmly, remind him that the planes were manned by Saudis and gee, where is Osama anyway? Maybe hiding in Pakistan, our ally. He then called me a liberal asshole and sped away before I could inquire, um, if you believe so strongly in this war, why aren't you in uniform? Without all the hours of discussion and knowledge acquired therefrom, I would not have been able hold my own as well during such confrontations. So if you need a rationalization for blogging, there ya go.

Posted by ntodd for ql-was in NY

Tankman

On my way home from NTodd's Pa's last night, after we'd visited NTodd's Pa's Ma for her birthday in Maine, I heard a story on The World:

A Hong Kong-based human rights group says thousands of former soldiers rioted in China last week. The former soldiers were being re-trained to work for China's national railway system.

At one point China correspondent Mary Kay Magistad observed that there were riots in three separate cities separated by about 700 miles, and this was a source of great concern to the regime.  There apparently are tens of thousands of demonstrations and protests in China every year, but they are generally isolated and based on a single issue, so easily defused by the government.  These new incidents show that there's coordination and is much more of a (perceived) threat to those in power.

Since I'll be leaving for the airport in just a little bit, I was thinking about this weekend's march and what else needs to be done to effect change in this country.  We have some coordination through the Internet and other traditional channels, but there still seems to be a lack of strategic vision in the anti-war "movement" as Scott Ritter has rightly pointed out.  Essentially what we've been doing is using a few low-intensity tactics (mostly  from the 198 Methods category of Protest and Persuasion) in non-persistent, isolated fashion.  Just as in China, it's easy to deal with such things if there is no continued, massive follow-up and, more importantly, escalation.

I was also thinking once again about the "I don't want to be the only one out there" stuff I've been hearing from so many quarters.  Part of the inspiration for Operation Mosquito was something I'd read at the War Resisters League website years ago: If you think you’re too small to be effective, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito.

One of the most important things about nonviolence is that you do not have to be a hero to use it. There never was a great movement made up entirely of heroes. In order for a movement to grow, there must be room for those of us who are timid, shy, and, from time to time, afraid. Most of us are uncertain about many things, most of us find it hard to take risks, but we are in a movement to see what each of us can contribute and to rejoice that—together—we can change things.

One person might be afraid, yet act.  One person might not change the world, but be the stone that begins an avalanche.  Heading back to China, recall 1989:

This act of defiance by one man did not prevent bloodshed or overthrow the regime, but it was powerful nonetheless because it shows that anybody can do courageous things and, if more people do exactly that, we will prevail.  Sadly, many people take the wrong lesson from Tiananmen and say, "well, all that protest did nothing!"  Really, we need to learn from the mistakes the protesters made:

[T]he defeat of the student movement cannot fully be explained by the violence used to send it underground or into exile, for many other nonviolent movements in the twentieth century deflected repression and endured to fight another day. Erratic and divided leadership, that believed more in the power of the moment than seeing the right moment to apply power, was at least as great a problem. This overconfidence diverted student leaders from the necessary work of organization and strategy. Had they seen the value of recruiting support from other parts of society - workers in transport and communication, civil servants, and, most important, the police and the military - they might have consolidated their gains and opted to develop a broader challenge not confined to Tiananmen, a convenient venue for repression.

Failing to appreciate or plan for the possibility of repression was an error in itself, but it also freed the students to indulge in whatever provocative action seemed enticing. Inflammatory gestures such as erecting, opposite Mao's Mausoleum, a "Goddess of Democracy," a replica of America's Statue of Liberty, doubtless antagonized the regime while not changing any facts on the ground. In short, while the students were familiar with the most obvious forms of nonviolent action - occupying public spaces, hunger strikes and playing to the international media - their decisions in using these sanctions did not reflect "any significant degree of strategic thinking..."

The failure of strategy at the moment of crisis kept echoing throughout its aftermath. The government's use of repression taught the wrong lesson to many about how rights and democracy should be pursued. In 1999 one former protestor called himself "a victim of June 4," since he was fired and prevented from getting another job; he had decided that "the only path for China was. . .cautious, progressive liberalization." Even the flammable Wu'er Kaixi, who fled China and later had to pump gas and wait on tables in California, succumbed to lower expectations. Explaining why he hoped that Beijing would not be forced to acknowledge its Tiananmen savagery, he said that doing so might only set back gradual reforms. And he wanted to return home. "I think if everything goes okay, I'll be able to go home in five years. If something happens, if there are demonstrations and another crackdown, it will take longer."

But that view genuflected to the regime's version of history: that the use of nonviolent action risks violent upheaval, that popular action to seek human rights and democracy is the enemy of unspecified gradual change. Gandhi in India thought otherwise; if he had not, his followers would never have learned how to undermine the basis of British domination. At exactly the moment when the revolutionary potential of nonviolent power seems hopeless, there are always a determined few who will not be persuaded by repression to give up - and in the long run it takes only a few to reignite the motives and means of change.

I don't expect everybody to be prepared to stand up to real tanks--Dog knows I'm not at this point.  But some tanks are metaphorical, and there are many ways a single person can try to prevent them from rolling.  The important thing to do is first recognize that all of us do have power and we are at a point in history where we must exercise that power lest more people die.  So think about the kinds of tanks you CAN and WILL stop, then do it no matter how afraid you are.  Also consider your actions in a larger, more strategic picture and how you might engage with others who feel just as afraid and disempowered and angry.

ntodd

Freedom's What?

Vicki makes phone calls.

ntodd

Tap Tap Tap

This is all I've got to say about Larry Craig (click for the full strip):

But I will use all this nasty, naughty, bad GOP behavior to justify some of my own right now.

As it turns out, writing to Congress, sending people books and peaches and other symbolic items, flying to DC for protests, blog and podcast hosting...all this stuff costs real money.  I know, it was a shock to me, too.

Anyway, it is totally my willful choice to give up a significant salary and do all these things and other more demanding, costly things in the future.  One of my acts of conscience is in fact to live under the poverty line so I have no tax liability and thus no responsibility for funding the war in Iraq.

Still, there is dog and cat kibble to buy and all those other additional expenses I mentioned above.  So in that light, lemme pull out the National Public Radio Pledge Drive playbook and take a moment to ask for money.

[gasp!]

It's the usual drill: if you appreciate things I do on my 18 gajillion non-blogs--cat and dog blogging, the 198 Methods of Nonviolent Resistance, my extremely creative swearing--throw some spare coins my way.  Or feel like you aren't in a space where you can engage in much resistance against the regime yet and want a revolutionary proxy of sorts, throw some spare coins my way.  Or if you just want more pussy and less of all this serious, nonviolent writing shit, throw some spare coins my way.   

Or don't.  I'm sure I can hit NTodd's Pa up for bail money if and when the time comes.

ntodd

(x-posted at Doowhatto Menow)

Operation Himmlergram

In addition to giving Nancy and Harry some informative DVDs, I also sent them a few little history lessons.

August 31:

The Gleiwitz incident was a staged attack on 31 August 1939 against the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany (since 1945: Gliwice, Republic of Poland) on the eve of World War II in Europe.

This provocation was one of several actions in Operation Himmler, a Nazi Germany project to create the appearance of Polish aggression against Germany, which would be used to justify the subsequent invasion of Poland.

The Gleiwitz incident was only a part of a larger operation, carried out by Abwehr and SS forces. At the same time as the Gleiwitz attack there were other incidents orchestrated by Germany along the Polish-German border, such as house torching in the Polish Corridor and spurious propaganda output. The entire project, dubbed Operation Himmler and comprising 21 incidents in all, was intended to give the appearance of Polish aggression against Germany.

For months prior to the 1939 invasion German newspapers and politicians like Adolf Hitler accused Polish authorities of organizing or tolerating violent ethnic cleansing of Ethnic Germans living in Poland.

On the day following the Gleiwitz attack, 1 September 1939, Germany launched the Fall Weiss operation — the invasion of Poland — initiating World War II in Europe. On the same, day, in a speech in the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler cited the 21 border incidents, with three of them called very serious, as justification for Germany's "defensive" action against Poland. Just a few days earlier, on 22 August, he told his generals "I shall give a propaganda reason for starting the war; whether it is plausible or not. The victor will not be asked whether he told the truth."

United States correspondents were summoned to the scene next day, but no neutral parties were allowed to investigate the incident in detail and the international public was skeptical of the German version of the incident. A few days after the Invasion of Poland, the international public and press realized the huge scale of the German "defensive action" in the days immediately after the Gleiwitz incident meant that the operation had to be planned months in advance.

September 1:

The Invasion of Poland, 1939 (in Poland also "the September Campaign," "Kampania wrześniowa," and "the 1939 Defensive War," "Wojna obronna 1939 roku"; in Germany, "the Poland Campaign," "Polenfeldzug," codenamed "Fall Weiss," "Case White," by the German General Staff, and sometimes called "the Polish-German War of 1939"), which precipitated World War II, was carried out by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and a small German-allied Slovak contingent.

The invasion of Poland marked the start of World War II in Europe as Poland's western allies, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand], declared war on Germany on September 3, soon followed by France, South Africa and Canada, among others. The invasion of Poland began September 1, 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and ended October 6, 1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland.

Following a German-staged "Polish attack" on August 31, 1939, on September 1, German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west. Spread thin defending their long borders, the Polish armies were soon forced to withdraw east. After the mid-September Polish defeat in the Battle of the Bzura, the Germans gained an undisputed advantage. Polish forces then began a withdrawal southeast, following a plan that called for a long defense in the Romanian bridgehead area where the Polish forces were to await an expected Allied counter-attack and relief.

On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Red Army invaded the eastern regions of Poland in cooperation with Germany. The Soviets were carrying out their part of the secret appendix of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which divided Eastern Europe into Nazi and Soviet spheres of influence. Facing the second front, the Polish government decided the defense of the Romanian bridgehead was no longer feasible and ordered the evacuation of all troops to neutral Romania.[8] By October 1, Germany and the Soviet Union had completely overrun Poland, although the Polish government never surrendered. In addition, Poland's remaining land and air forces were evacuated to neighboring Romania and Hungary. Many of the exiles subsequently joined the recreated Polish Army in allied France, French-mandated Syria, and the United Kingdom.

In the aftermath of the September Campaign, a resistance movement was formed. Poland's fighting forces continued to contribute to Allied military operations and did so throughout the duration of World War II. Germany captured the Soviet-occupied areas of Poland when it invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, and lost the territory in 1944 to an advancing Red Army. Over the course of the war, Poland lost over 20% of its pre-war population under an occupation that marked the end of the Second Polish Republic.

I wonder if they'll pick up on my very subtle message.

ntodd

Time For A Strike?

The subject of a possible General Strike on 9/11 came up today, and I've been giving it a lot of thought.  I have in the past said we ultimately need to have one, but as of right now I'm inclined to not participate for a variety of reasons.

I'll start with the selfish, personal excuse first: I'm supposed to teach on campus that day, being Tuesday, and it's only the second week of school. 

Since I've had this commitment for several months and only heard about the strike today, I feel a greater weight of obligation to be in the classroom.  What's more, I only get 2.5 hours of contact per week with my students, so the impact would be fairly severe (yes, generally the point of action is to have as great an impact as possible) and I don't feel right about that.  I will, however, advertise the strike as much as possible, even to my students, though without the force of explicit advocacy in this instance.

I'm also looking at this particular action from a strategic POV.

This isn't the first time I've argued against such methods.  When folks were engaging in a boycott back in April 2006 regarding immigration "reform," I also was more than a little hesitant.  Today it's for largely the same reasons.

Basically, I'd rather see this as part of a series of escalations.  Yes, we've written letters and marched and other stuff before, and we need to ratchet up the pressure on the regime (and I'm now including you, Congress, in that).  However, I have yet to see much of a societal commitment to maintaining the pressure consistently up to this point, which means to me that we have more "practice" to do first.  How about weekly marches first before we ask people to make the next leap up the chain of direct action?  That just feels more appropriate to me.

As I was last year, I'm concerned about backlash for very specific reasons.  Not because I think people will be alienated by a strike per se, but the choice of date in this case is what gives me pause. 

I understand the symbolism of a strike on 9/11: it's an event that has been used to excuse every single grevious act by the regime.  However, there is still a great deal of collective trauma associated with that day, and there's some other, more powerful negative symbolism at work I think.

Consider Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha for a moment.  The march ended on April 6th, 1930, in Dandi, where the Mahatma proceeded to illegally make salt in a symbolic act of defiance.  That marked the beginning of a week of national resistance that ended on April 13th, the anniversary of the Amritsar Massacre.

In that case, having the event coincide with a tragic date made a great deal of sense.  The victims were Indian, and they were protesting the very oppressors who carried out the violent act.  Not really the same as trying to have an action on 9/11 from where I sit.

I support the use of general strikes in general, and think one is absolutely necessary in this country.  I noted last week that the Dutch applied this method during the Nazi occupation, and there have been many other prominent examples over the last century: Russia (1905), Belgium (1913), Germany (1920), Norway (1921), China (1925), Britain (1926), Denmark (1944), East Germany (1953), Haiti (1957), France (1968), Poland (1980).  I'd rather use September 15th as the launching pad for further escalation.

ntodd

Dohiyi Mir Means Peace

But sometimes I swear a lot, and I'm trying to keep this place more or less family-friendly.  So go see some important Quakerly thoughts interspersed with cuss words at my NC-17 blog.

ntodd

Military Industrial Complex Made Easy

Via Rising Hegemon I found War Made Easy earlier this week, and my copy arrived today:

War Made Easy brings to the screen Norman Solomon's insightful analysis of the strategies used by administrations, both Democratic and Republican, to promote their agendas for war from Vietnam to Iraq. By familiarizing viewers with the techniques of war propaganda, War Made Easy encourages us to think critically about the messages put out by today's spin doctors - messages which are designed to promote and prolong a policy of militarism under the guise of the "war on terror." Based on the book by the same title.

While my current focus is the Iraq War, I look ahead to a long-term struggle to mitigate the effects of militarism in our society.  As Eisenhower feared over 50 years ago we are currently living this nightmare:

[A] life of perpetual fear and tension; a burden of arms draining the wealth and the labor of all peoples; a wasting of strength that defies...any system to achieve true abundance and happiness for the peoples of this earth.

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.

This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

This is one reason I support Dennis Kucinich's candidacy for President.  His Department of Peace is a step toward reducing our reliance on violence at a societal level.

ntodd

They Do Notice

In response to the picture I sent him as part of Operation Nancygram, my Rep Peter Welch sent me this handwritten note:

No word on whether he liked the hostage note or books, but that's not really the point.  If you do something noticeable, they really do take notice.

ntodd