A CHANGE OF HEART

How do we make peace. When I was living in the fullness of self-centered delusion I thought I had answers. If only people would see and let go of their greed and hunger for power. If only they would let go of being right. If only they would work for the common good and practice mutual aid. If only, If only...........

Now I see that on a more subtle level I have expressed the same violence, towards those I loved no less. How could I propose peace and demonize those I saw as violent when I was violent and selfish myself?

I have been led to a book I have begun to read that I think holds some answers. It is "The Bodhisattva Peace Training" by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche. "In the last fourteen years of his life, Rinpoche gave the Bodhisattva Peace Training to hundreds of individuals in a multitude of settings"

I was blessed to have had Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche come into my life, a few years back, in a time of immense fear and impending doom. I opened up a piece of mail and there was his face beaming forth. I knew immediately that things were going to be fine. I have kept his picture in my living space and his image in my meditations since. I was blessed to have experienced one of his teachings and to have met him and looked into his eyes. It was the closest I have been to seeing God. The other place I have seen God is in the eyes of a newborn baby.

I share with you this excerpt from page six:

"For the spiritual power of peace to touch every person on this earth, it must radiate out from a profound peace within our own mind: across political and religious barriers, and across the barriers of ego and self-righteousness. To this end, we should seek an inner peace so pure and stable that we cannot be moved to anger by violence or to selfish attachment and fear by those who view or confront us with contempt and hatred. We can achieve such stability only by purifying mind's poisons--ignorance, anger, attachment, jealousy, and pride; then we can clearly see that war and suffering are but their outer reflections. The essential difference between true peace-makers and those who wage war of any sort is the presence of extraordinary patience and discipline in the minds of the peacemakers as they work with these pervasive poisons. If we truly understand this, we will never allow ourselves to be defeated from within or without."

This is my goal, but I have a long way to go. I pray that each day and each step I move closer to living peace. I apologize for the hatred and resentment that is often in my message as I try to bring to light many of the horrors waged upon innocent people by selfish hypocrites in places of power. Progress not perfection. May I be stripped of my own selfishness and hypocrisy.

Peace,

Alan

Yes, there are clowns in heaven! 

THOU SHALT NOT KILL

The so called "Christian Right" makes such a fuss over having the ten commandments on public property but turn a blind eye towards capital punishment, not to mention rascist murder.

The following is from "Counterpunch".

December 12, 2005

If a Black Man Dies in America, Does It Make a Sound?
Killing Tookie Williams

By NATE MEZMER

If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative effects? Most of those who support his state sponsored murder do not live in war torn regions of the Golden State of California. Thus it is difficult for these privileged people to understand the benefits of Stan's contributions on behalf of non-violence. However, because blacks are sentenced to death twice as frequently as whites who've been convicted of the same crime it appears that this may be more than a misunderstanding.

If a young black man is shot in South Central does it make a sound in Thousand Oaks?

If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative effects? Stan was convicted of four murders 25 years ago in connection with armed-robbery however the key witnesses were felons who recieved 'benefits' in exchange for their testimony. ( facts of the case). I have encountered many people who say that since Stan was a gang-banger and a co-founder of the Crips that such facts alone should condemn him despite his transformation. This notion is almost laughable if it were not so dubious, especially in light of the fact that our own country, the United States of America, is currently disguising the hostile takeover of oil-rich Iraq as a righteous crusade for freedom.

If a young black man is shot in Hunter's Point does it make a sound in Hillsborough?

If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative effects? The current administration in the White House is the most mafia regime in the history of the country and is thus run by some of the biggest gangsters in the world. The war in Iraq, a war based on falsehoods and conspiracies, collusion and neglegence, has been responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent civilians and has taken the lives of more than 2,100 US soldiers. This being said, no one is calling for the execution of the president?

If a young black man is shot in Watts does it make a sound in Orange County?

If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative effects? Indeed, lessons in retribution and justice in the form of war and execution never seem to get the job done. After, 9/11 we haphazardly attacked two countries, enraging large portions of the global community and subsequently created a greater terror threat than had existed before. Maybe if we had stopped to understand why the attacks had occurred in the first place our nation and its soldiers would not be in the same deadly predicament? Furthermore, becasue violence begets violence, as the bumper sticker says, "why do we kill people who kill people, to show that killing people is wrong?"

If a young black man is shot in Richmond does it make a sound in the Oakland hills?

If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative effects? Unlike the Christian re-birth of President Bush, the spiritual re-awakening of Stan Tookie Williams has been synonymous with peace. As documented, over 150 youth have pledged that Stan's writings and works have been responsible for their decision to remove themselves from the gang life. Since, 2001 Stan Tookie Williams has been nominated for 5 Nobel Peace Prizes and has won several awards for his work concerning non-violence. In that same time George W Bush has managed to invade two countries in the middle-east.

If a young black man is shot in South Sacramento does it make a sound in Granite Bay?

If Stan Tookie Williams is executed tomorrow who will feel the negative effects? After witnessing the government's reaction to Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans it seems that our nation is comfortable with stranding its black population. Although the tragedy did eventually spawn some national concern, we have since failed to address the real problem that blacks have been drowning in America for years. Thus the very fact that blacks are left to fend for themselves in ghettos and slums across the country does not bode well for an individual of the same color, who speaks out about such injustice and who's ultimate fate rests in the hands of the same people and the same system that creates such inequality.

If a black man is murdered in America does it make a sound?

Nate Mezmer is a political Hip-Hop artist and resident of Davis, CA . He can be reached at: mezmerfmk@yahoo.com

Know Thyself

I AM THE WALRUS (The Beatles)

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i am citizen. show me what to think.

The following was published at "Americas Best Political Newsletter" COUNTERPUNCH.

December 10 / 11, 2005

Advertisements, Infomercials and Stacatto News
The Widening Wasteland of the American Media

By RALPH NADER

There are times when unchallenged commercial greed morphs into institutional insanity. I am referring to the overall advertising-saturated, trivialized performance of the media conglomerates' utilization of our public airwaves 24 hours a day and their dominance of the ever-expanding scores of cable channels.

Take a test. If you are an average consumer of TV or radio broadcasts or newspapers and magazines, you are ready for your exam. Have you ever seen coverage of the following three long-standing civic organizations working on very important aspects of our society's needs and failures?

Lois Gibbs came out of the struggle over Love Canal's toxified residential neighborhoods to start and lead the nationwide Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) in Falls Church, Virginia. Over the years the Center has organized thousands of small but vigorous community groups who are challenging or stopping the presence of toxic chemical particulates and gases in largely lower-income neighborhoods. Lois and her associates have trained thousands of ordinary people, committed to protecting their families, and educated scores of communities about the nature of these toxics and what can be done about them with law, action and exposure.

They have victory after victory to show for their efforts, but so intense and widespread has been the poisoning of America over the decades by corporations that there is always more to discover and do.

Right now, the Center has its community associations "fighting to block local schools from being built on contaminated land in Alabama, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island." CHEJ's new report--Building Safe Schools: Invisible Threats, Visible Actions--covers the laws and situations in 250 states. Here is one example of many:

"In Birmingham, Alabama, Wenonah High School is being constructed on contaminated soil. The site is also across the street from the largest gasoline storage facility in the state and is adjacent to a railroad track and a junkyard. The site was further contaminated this past July by a gas spill when a train and gas truck collided right in front of the site of the future school."

For more information, see www.childproofing.org.

For an astoundingly-optimistic demonstration of what science can do for the people, consider the Appalachia Science in the Public Interest (ASPI) out of Livingston, Kentucky. Founded in the '70s by one of our former public interest scientists, Dr. Albert Fritsch, ASPI has shown what can be done for peoples' houses, cars, and larger buildings with "proven energy conservation, healthy home and renewable energy solutions." It connects "consumers with marketers of related products and services".

It is the moving force, with state agencies, renewable-energy companies and college institutions, behind the annual Bluegrass Energy Expo. The 2005 event featured, among others, the University of Kentucky College of Engineering Solar Car. The Expo has taught many people in what one writer called "a rich land with poor people" about sustainable forests, water purification and conservation. It is a very hands-on organization that makes you want to obtain its recommended products pronto. See its web site: www.a-spi.org. And send for its wonderfully-engrossing Simple Lifestyle Calendar 2006 for $7.50 (to ASPI Calendar, 50 Lair Street, Mt. Vernon, KY 40456).

In Washington, D.C. another unsung group of Americans is working hard at the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). END TWO There are hundreds of thousands of homeless people in our wealthy country. According to the Homeless Coalition, "60% are living in emergency shelter or transitional housing, and 40% are living on the streets. The majority, 53% are single adults, 42% are families and 5% are homeless/runaway youth."

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, says NCH, "multiplied the homeless population along the Gulf Coast by as much as a hundred fold." All this is in the face of the Bush regime's proposed slicing of federal subsidies for housing by 40%. That proposal, sent to Congress, does not cut the burgeoning budget for the number one occupant of public housing--George W. Bush in the White House.

NCH reports, organizes and lobbies all over the country. They are supporting legislation, introduced by Rep. Julia Carson, of federal homeless policies that "tackle the root causes of homelessness and poverty in this nation." For more on NCH, see its web page: www.nationalhomeless.org.

Now back to the mostly maniacal mass media's priorities. 90% of radio and television are devoted to advertisements and entertainment. Often the rest is staccato news, weather and sports repeated throughout the day. There are, of course, he sterling exceptions such as weekly sections of 60 Minutes or the two and a half minute investigations on the network nightly TV news.

Cable is a widening wasteland. With infomercials (bracelets and necklaces, etc.), re-run movies, sports and comedy shows, and endless silly drivel, it does not matter how many new cable channels are added. There will not be any devoted to the wholesome activities and successes of groups such as the aforementioned to life up people, get them more active and introduce the young to practical citizenship that solves serious problems.

That is, not until enough people around America become serious about the need for serious media and reassert some control over the public airwaves they own and the no-rent licenses given out to radio and television companies by the Federal Communications Commission. Communities that license cable companies also need to feel the enlightened heat of local residents and neighborhood groups. It is ours for the demanding.

Let's start demanding.