9/11

The body of Father Mychael Judge is carried from Ground Zero. His compassion should be our lesson from 9/11.

9/11.

Those numbers have become so large in our culture. And for a week now, with the 10th anniversary of the attacks arriving, an extraordinary amount has been written and said about that day. And a lot of what I've seen is clearly the media getting as much mileage out of the tragedy as possible.

Here, in point form, are my thoughts.

* Everyone who suffered that day, and those who continue to suffer, should be in our thoughts and prayers.

* 9/11 showed us the real humanity of people. Especially in NYC, a city known for being a bit "cold," people were just people, united in survival, helping each other.

* 9/11 was not a government plot. That's nonsense. And the powers that be love it when we tie ourselves in knots with fallacies like this because then we aren't paying attention to what they're really up to. It would have been virtually impossible to orchestrate and our government was going to do what it's done overseas one way or another. 9/11, as Dick Cheney himself said at the time of the attacks, simply gave them the perfect excuse to get the ball rolling. Horrible serendipity.

* 9/11 is not just about 9/11. It is about all the causes that led up to it, and all the crimes that have been carried out in its name. So our thoughts and prayers should also be with the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. All the decent Muslim people who have been stereotyped and victimized. The victims of "extraordinary rendition," torture and illegal incarceration.

* 9/11 was further dishonored by our government with the Patriot Act and Homeland Security -- the names themselves are lies. Our rights have been severely attacked by these things. You can now be arrested for doing nothing at all and locked up without the right of habeas corpus. It's happening more than you might realize. (Read "The Attorney General's Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations" -- also known as the Mukasey Guidelines -- or take a look at the book "Hell No: Your Rights to Dissent in Twenty-First-Century America.")

* To point out that our government caused 9/11 and exploited 9/11 is not to dishonor its victims. It is to honor them so that they may not have died in vain. Many of the 9/11 survivors and their families feel very strongly about this themselves.

* True patriotism is loving your country enough to speak up for it. True patriotism has nothing to do with loving a bunch of greedy politicians making emotional speeches about a tragedy, and then cutting off health benefits to those who suffer from its effects.

* 9/11 should remind us that we were naive to think that our government could throw its weight around all over the world, and nobody would ever bring some of that pain back to us.

* The so-called "War on Terror" is a blight on us all. We were hoodwinked. And the lie has cost perhaps millions of lives through invasions and sanctions -- men, women and children have suffered and died. Men, women and children just like us.

A young casualty of the "War on Terror." This is terror too.

* We have to have the courage and calmness to come to terms with the fact that successive U.S. governments have made America the world's leading terrorist nation, as defined by international laws and conventions.

* It takes an almost incomprehensible sickness to give mass murders names like "Operation Iraqi Freedom" and "Operation Enduring Freedom" (Afghanistan).

* It is very possible that today, on 9/11, also the first Sunday of the new NFL football season, those of us in America will spend more total hours watching football than thinking deeply about 9/11 -- its root causes and what it really means. If that is where our priorities lie, we have little right to point the finger at anyone else.

* 9/11 is Father Mychael Judge, the first recorded victim of the 9/11 attacks. Much loved in New York City, Father Mychael was the Chaplain of the NYC City Fire Department with a heart the size of the city itself. And the fact that he was openly gay didn't make any difference at all.

* Many Americans HAVE spoken truth to lies. Many DO understand the full scope of the 9/11 story. Their courage and compassion should be applauded.

* Each of us has more in common with the average person in Iraq and Afghanistan than with the megalomaniac elites in Washington D.C.

* To truly begin to heal the pain of 9/11, and to truly learn from it, we must learn that we are all one race, that our government does not speak for us, that in our name a handful of politicians have committed mass murder and toruture, that they have lied to our troops and put them unnecessarily in harm's way, that they've wasted many billions of dollars in military spending when our country is in the pain of a recession/depression (an ongoing crime of our government).

* To truly begin to heal the pain of 9/11, we must think for ourselves and not just salute a flag and do what we're told because our government feeds us a good story. We must have the courage to speak up, protest, exercise our democratic rights, and stick together as citizens. Above all, we must learn to love rather than take the low road to hate.

Take care and God bless all the victims of 9/11 around the world,
Adrian

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THE REVOLUTION IS KNOCKING -- PT. 1

In my lifetime, I've never seen anything like this.

In fact, as far as I can tell, the present level of radicalization of the masses, in the U.S. and possibly globally, is unprecedented. The knowledge, the awareness, the networking, the activism, the motivation -- all the indexes that indicate radical societal change are going up.

This is key stuff and what "House on Fire" is all about. So I want to devote two or three posts to it. My observations of what's going on at present, what it means, where it might lead, how it will affect us and what WE can do to affect it.

What's the Evidence?

Let's start with the U.S. Even as recently as a decade ago, you didn't hear the "average person" questioning America's major institutions -- and certainly not with the sophisticated level of knowledge that they're exhibiting now.

People are aware of the Wall Street robber barons; the illegality of the U.S. invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere; the fact that we don't have a real democracy; the notion that things really do just go round and round in the same sick way regardless of who gets elected; the knowledge that corporations call the shots; the fact that those corporations can pollute the hell out of the air, water and land and not pay a serious price -- and will probably be granted more licenses to rip and tear for fossil fuels; a stark awareness that not only nuclear weapons but nuclear energy is unsafe and unnecessary. The list goes on.

People are discussing these things. I see it all the time now on Facebook, message boards, Twitter, in the alternative media and, on occasion, the mass media: you name it. The dialogue is thrilling to witness -- and very often it's really smart dialogue.

Activism-based groups have hit the mainstream. While I'm not here to go into deep detail about their individual merits or flaws, movements like Zeitgeist, Anonymous, the Venus Project and resource-based economy groups herald a whole new era. I feel that we have Wikileaks -- in tandem with a pitiful global economy -- to thank for this surge of widespread activism.

Then there are the uprisings around the globe: against oppressive regimes, protesting governments whose policies feed unemployment, and demanding peace and justice and decent-paying jobs. The Middle East alone is awash with protests.

And, of course, cyberspace. The New Frontier. The Establishment just can't keep the lid on it. TV was the one-way propaganda gold mine they relied on. But this Internet thing? What's a WASP to do?

"But how's it going to turn out?"

The question on everyone's lips. But to focus on the question itself is to miss the real point. I believe the real point is that people are actually ASKING this question. When has this ever happened before in modern, Western history vis-a-vis mass societal change? This is a landmark -- it almost feels like a miracle.

But not really: This has been simmering for some time. Of course, you could shorthand an answer and say: "Well, things are so rotten for so many people, we need radical change of some kind so at least the ship has left the dock. We have a shot of making things better." Predicting exactly how it will play out is like trying to predict anything about the future -- and it isn't what's important anyway. We just have to keep working, talking, protesting and shaping the thing as we move forward.

I'm not saying that there isn't quite a way to go; I'm just saying that we've traveled farther than ever before. And now, all things are possible.

Much more to write but I don't want to make these posts too long. Check back and I'll have more for you in a day or two -- and I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Take care,
Adrian

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THIS IS WHY I WRITE THIS BLOG

Quite frequently, I get comments from readers of this blog. Most are very supportive, some express disagreement, others are incredibly hostile. I publish them all -- unless I consider them a bit too profane -- because I believe in debate, free speech, and competing opinions. Last week, a young man sent a comment and I found myself answering at length. When I was done, I felt that the exchange said a lot about where I'm coming from and why I write this blog -- which is useful in that it gives a larger, yet personal, context to what I'm doing and trying to do. So I decided to publish the whole exchange. I've removed the chap's name in case he wouldn't want it used in this way.


THE COMMENT

[NAME REMOVED] has left a new comment on your post "GUNNING FOR NORTH KOREA":

I have noticed how fashionable it is to attribute atrocities to the United States, especially amongst your generation. The revisionist histories that purport to show America as the great monster of the Cold War -- in Korea, Vietnam, Latin America, Africa -- are all very troubling for their revelation of how undemocratic and hypocritical our foreign policy CAN be in times of national paranoia, but, while indeed I wholly approve of empirical criticism, I am troubled even more by your rhetoric, which seems actuated more by a desire to traduce America than to improve it. (It is also notable -- and provable with Google's Ngram -- that 'US,' the term for America that you use almost exclusively, became the more popular term for America in the late 60's or early 70's, at the height of exactly the sort of anti-Americanism you express. I can only conjecture that it is because 'US' reduces us to a political rather than cultural entity.)

In any case, although your points are not particularly original, I still generally agree with your message: America is not perfect. What bothers me is that you should single America out. As a college student at least two generations your junior, I can say that your anti-American rhetoric peaked around a decade ago, and that the inheritors of America have not inherited your habit of seeing us as a villain. This, too, can be found by entering relevant terms into Ngram, such as 'multicultural' or 'international.' Now, I believe, younger people are realizing that, for all our faults, we still are better than filthy and essentially third-world countries like China that handle 21st-century technologies with 19th-century attitudes. With the fast approaching extinction of your rebellious and irreverent generation, America may at last realize that the narrow-minded self-loathing your generation embodies only blinds us to the even greater evils in Asia.


MY RESPONSE

Firstly, thanks for your comment, which obviously took time and effort, and for putting your name to it. I admire that.

Let me preface my response by saying that I do not single America out, "it" (the power-mongers) has singled itself out. I am only commenting on what I see; although I am not saying that the U.S. is the only tyranny on the planet. I've never said that. But the U.S. is the most powerful and influential tyranny by far. Nor am I limiting my observations to the Cold War, which, for some reason, you used for context.

I disagree with you completely and put it to you that you are arguing from a totally false premise: This is not a generational thing at all; it cuts across generations. In fact, I would assert that folks with your line of thinking, or thereabouts, are in the minority in your own generation. You only have to look at alternative media, visit college campuses, hear what people are saying on buses and trains, look at protest actions, read message boards on news websites, check out blogs, look at the activist non-profits powered largely by younger people, sniff around Facebook, and on and on, and you can see that, if anything, society in general has become much more radical in its thinking. Not progressive, radical. In the sixties, you could argue, there was much more of a generational divide. But there isn’t now. And to suggest that the younger generations are somehow conservative and waiting for the old "hippies" to die off and let them be, just flies in the face of all logic and observation. Unless a person glues their eyes to Fox and CNN 24 hours a day, they simply MUST know that the tide has turned in favor of social change.

There is nothing at all fashionable about attributing atrocities to the United States. As a former right winger who would have made you shudder, (I was about as far from being a "flower child lefty" as one could get), I can tell you that people like me do things from conscience and observation. That is why I have come to the path I’m on. And that is why I talk about U.S. atrocities: because they happened and are documented, and because the U.S. is the most powerful nation on earth and has interfered in more countries than any other nation-state in history -- by far.

But of these atrocities, which of them do you want to erase to prop up your world view and give the U.S. a pass mark as a not-so-bad bully? The massive bombings of Germany when WWII was already won, which slaughtered countless civilians? The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the Japanese wanted to surrender, and then were actually in the process of surrendering? Nixon’s savagery from the air in Vietnam? Our support of sadistic regimes throughout Latin America? Our invasion of Cuba? Our pathetic bravado in Grenada? Our torturing of all manner of people in any number of places? We could talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, the conquering of the Philippines and Hawaii, COINTELPRO, supporting Indonesia while it carried out genocide, etc etc… how many examples does one need? War crime after war crime. Plunder after plunder. Cruelty piled on cruelty.

My father fought in WWII (and was in the peacekeeping forces in Hiroshima where he saw a city that was “completely flat”) and Korea (where he earned the Purple Heart). I was a good listener. I followed up on that by reading, asking questions, being skeptical. I grew up with the Vietnam War on television EVERY NIGHT. So I read about that, and asked questions, and was skeptical. I also grew up in a part of my city that took thousands of Vietnamese refugees into urban camps after the Vietnam War then integrated them into our neighborhoods at a time when there was no abundance of jobs and not enough hospital beds. I questioned this vehemently. But in time I learned the truth and why these people had “moved in.”

It is not a crime that you are young. It’s not even a misdemeanor that you are ignorant. At your age I was very ignorant and very angry. Much worse than you. But there is little excuse, in this day and age, when enough of the truth has made its way into the public realm, that you have not educated yourself better. That is your responsibility. You have a good brain. The world needs it. But it needs it thinking compassionately and clearly, not flexing itself with juvenile pontifications like you just swallowed a dictionary and it went down the wrong way.

On another note, if my “points are not very original,” there is a good reason for that: most of my points are truisms that bear repeating, not the shining revelations of a latter-day prophet. I never claimed to be such. I do not create American history, I just help amplify it -- as it really is. There are things that many of us feel compelled to repeat, to re-express, to keep in the arena of public discourse. Is this irksome to you? Why? I’ll bet your own life is riddled with repetitions much more frivolous than the recounting of crimes against humanity. Consider what you are about to say before you say it, my friend.

As for the Ngram thing, there are many variables in play there. For one example: If the Establishment decides it needs to make a word “dirty” because it’s too close to the truth and threatens their charade of truth, then there’s a good chance a lot of people will stop using that word because the perception of it has changed in the public arena. That’s what our mass media gives us: A glorious propaganda machine that shapes the discourse. Ngram may be a tool of some use in some ways, but don’t lean too heavily on any one lever. Context, patterns, trends: that is where knowledge really exists. And in solid, primary references – documents – of which there is no shortage, supporting the stuff I say in this blog.

When you say that I have a desire to “traduce America more than improve it,” which “America” are you speaking of? If you mean the corporate and political elites who are ruining life for the vast majority, hell, I don’t wish to traduce, I wish to throw them out of their ivory towers! But if you mean the land, the people, and the potential and beauty of America (and don’t get hung up on the U.S. thing, for goodness sakes), then I love this country as much as anyone. This is the country my 8-year-old son and HIS generation will inherit, IF it’s still here. And THAT is a VERY serious thing to me and nothing to do with rhetoric or games. I have hobbies and interests I would much rather spend my time on than typing up a blog after working as a professional writer/editor 10 or 11 hours a day.

Yes, I slam the elites of the U.S., and yes, I am angry about the injustices that I see them inflict both here and abroad. Guilty as charged and proud of it. You should be angry too, if you really love America. The true America.

And I feel pretty sure you do.

Take care,
Adrian

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OBAMA IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

Noam Chomsky isn't afraid to remind us that Obama knows which side his bread is buttered on

I've been surprised -- and then again, maybe not -- at the hero worship going on among some liberals at present.

Message threads for any stories about Obama on The Huffington Post -- a Dem/liberal news site -- have been praising the president's courage and candor, vision and integrity, because "he" got bin Laden.


He's Not One of Us

This is my take: Obama's a politician and a member of the elite. The whole bin Laden thing was conducted in such a way that if another nation had taken similar action on U.S. soil, a great many people in this country would be howling. But since "we" did it, it's okay with a lot of people (and NOT okay with a lot of people as well, I should add), and therefore Obama is the great architect and moral force behind this "necessary" murder.

Now, don't fly off the rails and tell me that bin Laden was a terrorist and murderer. Even though he never went to trial, most of us accept this to be true. But how is Obama not a terrorist and murderer when children in Afghanistan, to name one instance, are being killed by our armed forces/government? Remember: Obama is the Commander in Chief.


Laws are for Everyone

My point is that there are international laws and international bodies and correct ways of doing things. And if the U.S. government truly wants international respect, then the U.S. must treat all other nations, suspected criminals, and citizens everywhere according to international laws and conventions. It's a two-way street.

I say again: Obama's a politician and a member of the elite. I don't know what he came up with and what he didn't in terms of this whole "covert operation." But he certainly rubber stamped it. And now he's on "60 Minutes" and any podium that will hold him, squeezing all that strong-wise-leader juice out of the story and campaigning like a champion. Yes, that's all he's doing. Campaigning. If our politicians actually worked a fifth of the time they spent posturing for us, we'd be in a lot better shape. No, strike that. The corporations would have even sweeter deals. We'd probably still be in trouble.

I don't trust either party or any president I've seen. Why the hell would anybody? These people aren't our friends. Their motives aren't the same as ours. Personally, my allegiance is to the global common good. That's it.


Chomsky Tells it How it Is

Let me quote an extract from an interview with Noam Chomsky that was published in "The New Statesman" in September, 2010. Chomsky is a very astute critic of Obama, and is ever ready to give some factual perspective on the guy so we don't all fall into the trap of thinking that Bush was a demon (for the record, he was) and this guy is our savior (for the record, he's not):

"What are your thoughts on President Obama?

He’s involved in war crimes right now. For example, targeted assassinations are war crimes. That’s escalated quite sharply under Obama. If you look at WikiLeaks, there are a lot of examples of attacks on civilians.

What did you think when he was given the Nobel Peace Prize?

Considering the history of the Nobel Peace Prize, it’s not the worst example. It was given to him before he had the time to commit many war crimes.

Is there any point in us being in Afghanistan?

We wouldn’t have asked in 1985: 'Is there any point in the Russians being in Afghanistan?' The fact is that the invasion was a crime. Then comes the question: 'Is there any point in continuing?' But that presupposes legitimacy. Putting aside questions of morality and legality and simply asking about the goals of the US government is a very narrow consideration."

In another interview with The European Courier in March, Chomsky began his answer to the question "How would you summarize the presidency of Barack Obama as of now?" this way:

"Obama is a man of absolutely no principles. He has two constituencies. One of them is the popular constituency, the people who voted for him. For them he is doing essentially nothing. He has another constituency: the people who financed his campaign, the financial institutions. And they are getting rewarded."

Some food for thought. Bon appetit!

Adrian

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WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER

An Afghan child burned in a NATO bomb attack

 Except in purely self-defense situations, war is the answer to nothing.

Thanks in large part to our self-censoring media, we never really see the horrors of war and have not had a war on our soil in a century and a half.

I went to Google Images and looked up "civilian casualties." Permit me to share some of what I found. This is the horror we should not only not turn away from, we should actively do as much as we can to purge it from the planet forever. In nearly every situation that results in war -- including Libya -- there are other alternatives. It is not an either/or question.

All of these images are of civilians. Many were caused by the forces of the U.S. and its allies. But we aren't the only warmongers, that's for sure. We just happen to be top of the heap these days.

Iraq

Afghanistan

Bosnia

Hiroshima

Iraq

Dresden (WWII)

Korea (Korean War)

Afghanistan

How was your day?


Take care,
Adrian

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WISCONSIN, JAPAN, LIBYA & EVERYTHING ELSE

I urge everyone who visits this post to watch this
short interview with Noam Chomsky.

The incredibly gutsy Amy Goodman, the driving force behind DemocracyNow.org. Why no Nobel Peace Prize for her?

There is always joy and grief happening.

There's always prosperity and suffering. But the media decides which stories we get to hear about -- as if there are only ever three or four major things worthy of our attention. Our information is selected for us, scripted for us, piped into us. If we really want to know what's going on, we have to work a little harder and find sources that aren't owned and sponsored by corporations. (I HIGHLY recommend democracynow.org as a starting point. Just watching their headlines each day will put you ahead of the game. And broadcasts are archived!)

Wisconsin, Japan and Libya are CRUCIAL recent stories and I hope to comment further on each this week if I possibly can. But stories fade so fast from our entertainment-gorged media.

The very telling labor issues in Wisconsin are now on the back burner. CIA bombings of civilians in Pakistan barely warrant a mention.

The "news" on the commercial stations lacks objective analysis. To wit: How was the U.N. resolution about attacking Libya arrived at (I mean, really arrived at) and precisely what does it mean?; Is every president just going to pee on the War Powers Act?; What does the recent turmoil in Egypt -- now also on the backburner -- mean?; Tell us about how oil and geo-political power factors into these things -- there is injustice and tyrants everywhere -- (including the U.S.!), how do we select the pin-up boys for our "Most Targeted" list at any given time?

And why does extreme force always seem to be the first "solution" to regional conflicts and international power relations that don't fit the money men's view of how the world should be?

We could also talk about Bahrain, Israel, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, troubles throughout Africa, protests in Europe, radicalism in Latin America, Aristide's return to Haiti and on and on. But the networks are selective in what they discuss, for how long, and from what angle. And they have to squeeze in plenty of Charlie Sheen, biased backslapping, cute pet stories, and other fluff and celebrity soap nonsense to keep our eyes off the ball. And all in seven minutes between commercials for crap we don't need.

The point? Question everything! Select news sources that aren't owned and backed by corporations with financial, political and power interests in having certain stories aired, in certain ways. And always, ALWAYS, follow the freakin' money.

The BS is constantly rising, folks. But the good news is there are millions of activists, independent media people, leading lights like Noam Chomsky/Amy Goodman/Ralph Nader/Naomi Klein, and everyday people who've woken up and got a whiff of the coffee. The game is turning, make no mistake. You can see it in Obama's face every time he tries to sell us on a troop escalation or the safety of U.S. nuke plants. The pressure is on the bastards in charge, and we're gonna ratchet it up.

The fun is underway. Make your voice heard and be part of the humanitarian revolution.

Take care,
Adrian

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“THEY’RE BEING EXECUTED ON THE BATTLEFIELD.”

We are murderers too.

By “we,” I mean the government that supposedly represents us after we supposedly put its members in power by means of what is supposedly a democratic process.

It’s easy for us, as poorly informed citizens who live relatively comfortably, to think that life is good and all the bad guys live in other countries. We know the names of the big ones: Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao. We were taught these things in school and by the History Channel.

But “we” are the bad guys too. In fact, what other nation can claim as much multinational malfeasance around the world since WWII, the era of the American Empire?

Our leadership through the decades is a rogues gallery. As preeminent socio-political intellectual/dissident Noam Chomsky has pointed out, if we applied the Nuremberg laws (from the Nuremberg trials of the head Nazis) to our U.S. presidents, you’d have to hang every one of them going back at least as far as WWII. I want to look at that in my next blog entry.

Today I want to look at the “micro” level. The level of the individual soldier.

To see a TV commercial for the Marines, you’d swear you were watching some cross between a Biblical epic and a superhero movie. A lot of “motivational” nonsense and BS. Trying to rope in the kids of the gaming era.

And you yourself might think it all looked pretty good. This factory that makes fine citizens who are tougher, smarter and better than the rest. The BS merchants propagandize us as much as they do those they seek to enlist. If the commercials showed more blood and entrails and honesty, well, they might not work so well.

The point is, our guys do bad things on (and around) the battlefield too. Please take a look at this news excerpt from the very fine website Democracynow.org:


‘Hersh: U.S. Carrying Out “Battlefield Executions” in Afghanistan

…investigative journalist Seymour Hersh (pictured above) says U.S. forces are carrying out battlefield executions of prisoners in Afghanistan. Hersh made the comment during a discussion at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Geneva. In 2004 Hersh broke the story about the abuse and torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Seymour Hersh: "And the purpose of my [Abu Ghraib] stories was to take it out of the field into the White House, and where it -- you know, it’s not that the President or the Secretary of Defense, Mr. Rumsfeld, or Bush or Cheney -- it’s not that they knew what happened in Abu Ghraib. It’s that they had allowed this kind of activity to happen. And I’ll tell you right now, one of the great tragedies of my country is that Mr. Obama is looking the other way, because equally horrible things are happening to prisoners, I mean, to those we capture in Afghanistan. They’re being executed on the battlefield. It’s unbelievable stuff going on there that doesn’t necessarily get reported. And things don’t change.”

Seymour Hersh went on to say that he had been told about the battlefield executions by five or six different people.’

The issue here is that our Commander-and-Chief, his key people, the Congress and the top brass of the military, create a “war culture.” They unleash the dogs after feeding them raw meat and training them to kill. They have their military tactics (pretty easy stuff when you’re clearing a path with the most advanced military technology on the planet) but out in the field, as far as they in their ivory towers are concerned, whatever happens happens.

And so you have the My Lai massacre (another story Hersh broke back in 1969), Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, fragging in war, rape in war, and on down the line. None of us are made up of good alone. And under extreme pressure, our demons can be loosed.

The military personnel who commit these atrocities are not innocent. But more culpable are the decision-makers who put them in the position in which they act out. And the socio-economic system – fueled by corporate greed and political power lust – that creates and promotes those decision-makers.

Of course, saying this sort of thing out loud (or in a blog) will always be labeled as “unpatriotic” by some. Or it will be personalized at the micro level: “How dare you say that about our brave fighting men and women.” But I am not questioning the courage of the individual soldiers. I am admitting, on their behalf, the fallibility of their humanity. Whatever awful deeds they have done (and of course, the majority don’t commit war crimes – but they are willing to kill in illegal “wars” if ordered to), it is OUR duty to declare war on those who have used them like pawns.

So email your senators and congressmen and President Obama (who is the commander-in-chief and who recently ok’d another 30,000 troops be shipped to Afghanistan) and tell them that you are outraged. By atrocities in war and the wars (invasions!) themselves.

Do it for those who cannot do it themselves. Just as you would want someone to speak up on your behalf if you were losing your mind at one end of a barrel or another in a distant land.

Some people will say Hersh’s claims are all BS. But to me they’re absolutely plausible. In this violent world, why would this be so hard to believe? Under that kind of duress. Our guys crack under pressure too. And out leaks their id. I mean, even if you just look at it from the point of view of percentages, you’d have to bet that these things happen.

To me it would be ridiculous to think that you could send thousands of young people into a war zone and it wouldn't result in a few of them losing their minds at some point.

Unless you believe those commercials for the Marines and think our men and women are bulletproof. But who’d be dumb enough to buy into that?

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

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EVERY CHILD COUNTS

I have lived in the United States for the past 15 years and I am prepared to draw ire by saying that it is the most self-absorbed country I am aware of.

I do not say that to offend. I say it because I believe it is true and it is significant. It is an observation I can make as a migrant – especially since I am from another Western, First World nation.

The United States government, virtually since the Revolution and certainly in the era of mass media, has succeeded in developing a modern society that is quite hermetically sealed. Certain information -- e.g. raw footage of carnage in Iraq -- is not permitted to come in from the “outside,” at least not via the mainstream media. Other, somewhat less “controversial” information is allowed in in dribs and drabs so we can still be told we have a free press and live in a real democracy.

The media are so controlled, their messages so carefully crafted and sanitized, that the world view of the citizenry is continually being shaped for them. With America at the center of that world, of course. The U.S. is the “light on the hill,” “God’s country,” the “greatest country in the world.” And a considerable segment of its high school kids can’t find Mexico on a map, let alone Iraq or Afghanistan. Call it “skewed education.”

Patriotism has been made into a fine propaganda curtain in the U.S. If you dare to question the system, you might get branded “un-American.” Conversely, if you want to get a chunk of the population on board for the invasion of a Mid East country, you might talk about the threat to American ideals or security or some such nonsense. It’s us-against-them stuff. And if you aren’t with us, you’re against us and it will be noted.

This is how it goes when you have the biggest stick.

I’d like to take this thinking to the nth degree. Americans (I’m talking generally), are very patriotic – one could argue nationalistic. They also take pride in many of their institutions, like the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and their favorite NFL team. They believe they live in the world’s greatest country largely because many of them haven’t bothered to learn much about other cultures – and their education system certainly hasn’t broken its back encouraging them to. I come from Australia. It’s a pretty good place, trust me. And we don’t get all unhinged about it being the best or the greatest. It’s just a good place to be.

The American Dream (myth) is often savagely defended, at least rhetorically, sometimes violently. America has the best athletes and its champion teams are world champions even though they only play amongst themselves. The nuclear family (a fading concept) is still touted as the model for American life for all those still living the Norman Rockwell fantasy. And our kids (I have an American son), our kids are our jewels.

Okay. So say the great cosmic lottery didn’t land you in America. Say you were born in, oh, Iraq. You bake bread for a living. You have a spouse and two children. It is the only life you know. You are satisfied with the simpler things.

One day, your village is bombed by American planes dropping American bombs paid for with American tax dollars that swelled the coffers of some American corporations. Your spouse and children are killed. They are “collateral damage.” How would you feel?

I’m obviously alluding to a lot of things that will need to be revisited another time, but I wanted to brush some broad strokes to paint a clear context: I love my son more than my own life, but can I say he is more precious than an Iraqi child? Or an Afghan child? Or the collateral damage kids anywhere else on the globe where the country with the biggest stick has self-righteously – and with God’s implicit consent – “protected its interests”?

I cannot. Because parents everywhere love their kids. ALL children are precious. Sure we love our own and see them as special. They are our kids so it’s natural that they’re very special to us.

But look at what we have done to so many places that a lot of us can’t even find on a map. We’re rather indifferent about what our government and its brethren corporations have done in our name “over there,” considering many of us are capable of turning into attack dogs should someone insult our flag… let alone one of our kids!

Are we really that blind?

Well, yes and no. Millions of Americans do NOT fit the description I’ve laid out. But the machinery that perpetuates the American myth and American greed doesn’t want you to know that.

Every major decision made in Washington D.C. has great consequences. Some domestically, some internationally, some both. And a lot of kids are affected. Maybe your kids, maybe not.

But isn’t it our responsibility to take actions and voice opinions that protect them all? Everywhere? If we don’t, what kind of people are we? Surely it needn’t take our own homes being bombed for us to recognize our selfishness. Surely we are blessed enough that we can afford to have compassion for children just like ours regardless of where they happened to be born. And turn that compassion into action.

You have more power in your hands than you realize.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE:

1/ Contact your political representatives and tell them what you think: about poverty, using your taxes to invade sovereign nations, etc. Go here and put in your zip code: http://www.congress.org/

2/ On a more personal level, you can sponsor a child in the Third World. I use World Vision and feel pretty comfortable that the money goes where it should. www.worldvision.org

3/ Locally, you can donate food, clothing and other items to the poor. Goodwill is one very good organizaion: www.goodwill.org Or search the Web for others in your area. There are also those large clothing bins that dot most towns and suburbs.

4/ Pick a career that involves helping others.

5/ Protest, agitate, get involved. Search the Internet for like-minded people, groups and discussion forums.

6/ Do anything but be idle.

IF YOU HAVE OTHER IDEAS PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT
I INVITE YOU TO ALSO TAKE A LOOK AT MY POST "CHILD HUNGER -- THE SCOURGE OF THE PLANET."

BIG WORLD VS. SMALL WORLD -- PART 2

Last time, I described my Big World Vs. Small World notion, how we are unavoidably a part of both, and that there will be dire consequences if we concentrate all our thoughts and energies on our Small World at the expense of the Big World.

So where does that leave us?

Well, it leaves us with a responsibility to educate ourselves about the Big World and then take action. You’ll note that I’ve avoided saying “educate ourselves about Big World issues” since “issues” carries connotations of the current political system which, while an institution we can occasionally sway, is not likely to be the answer to our prayers. Presently, it tends to be operate more as one of the architects of our nightmares. (Now that I’ve clarified the connotations of the word, I will use it below.)

So, education. Where do you get your information from? Newspapers? Mainstream Internet news sites? TV news and political shows? None of the above?

These sources are fraught with peril. They are not owned by you and me. They are owned by mega-wealthy people who have mega-wealthy people’s agendas. It is a matter that will require its own blog entry (or two), but suffice it to say if we get our information from these sources, we are largely being misinformed, manipulated, or subjected to some raving lunatic’s ratings-grabbing “entertainment.” What little news we do get from these sources is heavily compromised by the news we should be getting that is never reported.

So we live in the Big World but we are not getting the Big Picture.

So we must educate ourselves. And there are plenty of sources for this. (see below) But it takes some effort and some re-thinking. Certain “truths” we may have held to be self-evident will be burned down as falsehoods. Keep an open mind. When looking at alternative/independent news sources, ask yourself: What do these people at these news sources have to gain? The answer is a lot less than the people at the “traditional” news sources.

Okay, so we seek education – which should be an ongoing thing. What about action? What do we do?

Well, that depends partly on how much time you can find. Most folks can’t tailor their lives to become a leading activist. But we all need to find whatever time we can for social change because the clock is ticking on us all. (Some of the brightest brains on the planet believe that if things continue as they are, we may only have a half century left.)

Reaching out to friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances and strangers and talking about social change is important. That makes your self-education “viral” (however, we should all avoid being “preachy” – people don’t tend to respond well to that).

You can tailor your Small World so that you make time to address the Big World. Support groups like Corporate Accountability International, Union of Concerned Scientists, United for a Fair Economy or International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. You can do this around your current schedule thanks to the Internet. Find ways to give them your time and voice, not just your money.

There are countless groups tackling the big problems. However there are not so many that are over-arching and want across-the-board institutional change – but that too is a topic for another time.

Follow the real news and issues on Democracynow.org, zcommunications.org and the like.

Phone your political representatives to express your concerns about things like the recent banking bailout, invasions (not “wars”) in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and others, the terrible environmental policies of the United States as well as global warming, and so on. You might call this “macro issue change” and it’s more incremental than trying to actually change institutions like government, media and the structure of the economy. But it is at least on the road between Small World and Big World.

Add your voice to online petitions, such as those you can have delivered to your email by sites like http://www.care2.com/causes-news/ Every voice counts!

Surf the Internet and find groups tackling big/real issues. Do Google searches to find blogs and discussion boards. Make social networking work for something worthwhile – start a social change Facebook page, for example. The possibilities are endless. Just think about what is most effective, what is most gratifying to you, then do it. That’s how I came to start this blog and in the coming year or so I’ll roll it into my own social change networking website. As it progresses it will be very much action oriented, not just information oriented.

And, of course, teach your kids about what you are doing. It could be the most vital education they get.

Remember: The “enemy” is all around us. We are constantly being distracted from things that matter by junk entertainment and overcomplicated tax forms that are meant to tangle us up and wrong-headed patriotism over cynical invasions.

And yes, making a commitment to social change is on top of our essential duties of family, work and leisure (also very important). Time is precious but it is stockpiled in the future: a better future and one we are yet to secure.

Above all, don’t leave it to someone else. Every little bit helps and it really helps if you can do more than a little bit. No Super Bowl or reality show or daily duty is nearly as important as the challenge of preserving our planet and improving our lives.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp
IMPORTANT EX POST FACTO FOOTNOTE: A recent discussion I was involved in indicated to me that I may not have been totally clear about an important point: Addressing Big World issues can be done in little ways. They do not have to cost huge chunks of time or money or even worry. Every step counts. The more you can do, the better. But obviously we are all able to do different things and to different degrees. And generally, as we do a little here and a little there we find that the burden is not so great, and the challenge not insurmountable. You will feel empowered.

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might also like to take a look at BIG WORLD VS. SMALL WORLD -- PART 1 or WE MUST ATTACK IGNORANCE AT EVERY TURN.