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Rolla Peace News March 31, 2015 |
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Dear Friends: In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 2. MORE FROM THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Year 2014 Sets Another Record b) From Our Readers c) Shifting Alliances and Expanding Wars d) Dark Humor
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We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015, (and all subsequent Thursdays until peace is established) from Noon to 1:00 PM. Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be in the 60s. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. 2. MORE FROM THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM This article by one of the attendees captures the essence of the event pretty well. There was chaos and consensus, hope and despair. It was clear that the source of most of the world's problems was the broken economic system that concentrates wealth and power into the hands of a few at the expense of the many. What wasn't so clear was that those of us who “share the booty,” and thus have a foot in both camps, are a big part of the problem. I'm talking about us. “Us” includes the majority of people in the so-called developed countries. We're comfortable; we live well, compared to the rest of the world, so we aren't all that committed to rocking the boat. We give to worthy causes, but not so it hurts. We may vote progressive, but we don't march downtown and occupy the state capitol — we might get arrested, and that would hurt our credit rating. Those of us who are old would like to ensure a comfortable old age, and those of us who are young and middle-aged are trying to get ahead in the system we were programmed to participate in. If that system collapses, what will happen to us? There's a lot of fear involved, even when we genuinely want to help make things better. During the French Revolution, the mob didn't stop to ask their targets if they were good people and cared about the poor, before they tore them limb from limb. It could happen again. So a lot of us are ambiguous about real change. All that being said, there are some signs of hope, and some viable strategies coming out of this event. There is an organization called “Beautiful Rising,” which attempts to coordinate and pass along information, resources, and strategies that have worked well, using the Internet and social media to spread the word. The idea is to publicize local events globally so that activists in other parts of the world can see what's being done, and what results from those actions, and use such tactics as are appropriate in their situation. This could make a big difference, if people see that what they are doing is part of a global whole, and not just voices crying in the wilderness. And wouldn't it be ironic if the Internet, which the elite have coopted to their profit, was the instrument of their downfall? 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Year 2014 Sets Another Record b) From Our Readers c) Shifting Alliances and Expanding Wars d) Dark Humor YEAR 2014 SETS ANOTHER RECORD Over the last three months, I've reported that 2014 was the hottest year on Earth since record-keeping began and almost certainly for thousands if not millions of years, and that 2014 was the worst year ever for human rights. Now it appears that 2014 was also the deadliest year for Palestinians since 1967. If you liked 2014, you'll just LOVE 2015. FROM OUR READERS Human Rights: One reader calls into question Juan Méndez's statement that the United States is the “only State in the world that still sentences children to life imprisonment without the opportunity for parole” by citing this Op-Ed in the New York Times by Fatima Bhutto. Bhutto cites the case of Pakistani Shafqat Hussain who was allegedly sentenced to death in Pakistan as a child after being tortured into confessing to a murder he did not commit. Well, some might take solace in the fact that others may also have sunk to the same depths of depravity that we have. I don't. Germanwings Fl. 9525: Several readers have remarked that my hunch in last week's newsletter that the crash of Germanwings 9525 may have had something to do with human-induced climate change was all wrong. Well I labeled it “the product of one deranged mind with absolutely no scientific evidence to back it up.” It does appear unlikely at this point. The official explanation that the co-pilot had a “bad hair day,” locked himself alone in the cockpit, set the plane on a collision course with a mountain and continued to breathe normally while he and 149 others plunged to their death also leaves a lot to be desired. News commentators are quick to note that since the co-pilot wasn't Muslim, it couldn't have been an act of terrorism — just a normal European with “emotional problems.” Well, I must admit, the explanation is somewhat more plausible than the one about US Navy SEALs finding the most wanted man on Earth unarmed in a refugee camp, killing him on the spot, and dumping his body at sea. SHIFTING ALLIANCES AND EXPANDING WARS Robert Parry tries to make sense out of what makes no sense at all — Middle-East wars and alliances. Although I suspect there is a piece or two missing here, this article is well worth the read. DARK HUMOR In times like this, I take solace in dark humor. For all you Green Eggs and Ham fans: Here's a poem on Ted Cruz. And for those of you who laud Indiana's support for religious freedom, you'll just love Indiana's First Church of Cannabis. And not to be outdone, here's my latest contribution. As Mark Twain so famously remarked, “Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.” ================== Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Grassroots Rolla: top of rightmost column).If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Helen helenm (at) fidnet.com ### |