Library – stack C
There are few who exemplify the pacifist ideal more than those conscientious objectors
who followed their beliefs to the camps and ovens of the Final Solution. It is to honor
those who have proved their courage in remarkable ways that I wish to create a Pacifist
Nation Hall of Witness. It is just in the formative stage, but
I invite you to look at the idea and perhaps help realize it.
Do you agree that
human rights must be universal for there to be a just world? Read the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and then, if your country (such as the United States) is not a signatory
urge that it become one!
The most imporant thing to understand about peace is that one cannot
have it without justice. You dig?
Jefferson declared that we were all endowed by our Creator ..., etc...,
inalienable rights, yada, yada, "... the
pursuit of happiness." Some may, with justification, argue that
we all have the right to a job with safety & dignity & respect & a living wage. On this Labor Day of 1999
we must again reflect on the vital importance of the Labor movement to the
vast majority of us who are not Management, and even, by extention, those of
you who are. Heed the words of my dear middle-management friend, Fr. Bill O'Donnell, pastor at
St. Joseph the Worker in Berkeley, Calif. (For the
link, I'm employing the United Farm Workers flag–a finer
example of a union would be hard to find.)
Those who perceive gun-lust as a fetish may not be far off the mark–or right on it.
An insightful column by the L.A. Times's Shawn Hubler suggests
a unique take on the issue, that our passion for guns is more like an
addiction. The Times wanted seventy-five bucks for permission to post it here.
I ain't that wealthy, but click on here & I'll give you a synopsis and a link to
where you can download it for a buck-&-a-half–money well spent.
(Ready, aim, ... shoot up!) [HypoGun by Y.T.]
And
speaking of human rights, why is it that even peaceniks occasionally overcome
their reluctance to blow things up?
Why did so many "liberals" support our little incursion into Kosovo?
It's just amazing how a little mis- & dis-information will sucker so many
of us into our own wrong-headedness. Read this little piece I received through
the E-mail and think a little harder the next time the "[raging] liberal
press" attempts to serve you yet another demon
head-on-a-plate!
Madonna and
Child. A picture of such serenity and
nurturing. But suppose the madonna is an Arab and her child is dying of
starvation and disease, a condition brought on by Prez. Bush's launching his "1000
Points of Light" at the ancient cradle of civilization. What horrors we perpetrate in
the name of "national security", "democracy", and (get this!), "humanitarianism."
I was horrified by Bush's actions and, to my dismay, was unable to
counter rationales for this act of genocide
presented to me by an intelligent, caring friend of mine because of the load of
equestrianmanure the media was dumping on a bemused public. I was bemused (look up that word in the dictionary –
a lot of professional writers misuse it.) I was not amused. Read this one and weep.
Then do something the hell about it.
Jackbooted thuggery alive and well in the USofA? (or as my Yiddish grandfather would
shrug philosophically and say, "Elián, nu? U.S. oyvey!") I try to avoid currency, except where it addresses a universal issue. Arianna Huffington is
fast becoming one of my favorite gadflies. Her May 6, 2K take on the Elián González case is refreshing, dealing as it
does with the broader issue of hypocracy and the violence perpetrated with
impunity by those pledged to "protect and serve". The cases cited are aberations,
granted. But we must apply the same outrage there that our media's readership has applied to
Reno's little adventure in south Florida. Elianito,
séa en paz. And, Arianna, You go, girl!
Let freedom ring! On September 30, 1999
the great City of Philadelphia passed a resolution calling for the closing of
the School of the Americas. Read it and weep in memory of all those hundreds of
innocent Latin Americans tortured and slaughtered by the (insigficant–by SOA
standards) 5% of the SOA graduates. Read of the declassified manuals advocating
the use of torture, execution and false imprisonment published courtesy of
our Democracy for a Free World
tax dollars at work. Yo, Philly, way t' go!
So where's your city?
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