Tuesday, April 08, 2003

The Nature of Action Dale Allan Pfeiffer writes: We must give up expectations but not the confidence that we can deal with any contingency. Humans only act if they believe their best interests are being served. Look for the best, not in the future but in this moment as it transpires. Educate others, fight injustice, but never lose sight of the beauty in this moment. Every plan right down to the most finely conceived incorporates within it a probability that the future shall deviate, which probability increases in direct proportion to the timespan of the plan and also to the number of people it will affect. This is the dualism of purpose: we must be subjective of the present while objective of the future. Live in the moment. If your formulations help you to get more out of this present moment, then that is fine, but don’t be disappointed if the world doesn’t live up to your expectations. Next time try to place a little less importance on expectations and a little more importance on this world as it is being experienced. Small scale action is much more likely to succeed. The smaller scale an action, the greater its chances of success. This is part of the appeal of both anarchism and Buddhism: both promote the proliferation of small scale action to affect major change. The best of anarchist thought contains an almost spiritual element in its view of individual responsibility and the common welfare. Perhaps we do have a chance, if we can pull our heads out of the clouds and stop arguing about the best way to proceed. If we could simply act from the heart, then we could do no wrong. Action can either be directed internally into the self, or externally into the environment and community. There are four courses of effective action: self-education, education of others, fighting injustice and organizing. (04/08/03) Peaceful Solutions for Schools Ellen Raider writes: If I were to give the human species a report card as it enters the 21st century, I would give it high marks in math, science, and technology, but its marks for the management of conflict need much improvement. In far too many interpersonal, intergroup, and international conflicts, we continue to learn and practice intolerance, prejudice, and violence. Social scientists have told us that these destructive behaviors are learned and passed on from generation to generation. In many polarized communities these behaviors are fueled by self-serving leaders who manipulate the media and promote biased and prejudiced versions of history in the classroom. Schools thus can become part of the problem. Imagine if all the teachers in the world were suddenly empowered to help their students unlearn the ABCs of hatred and exclusion, and learn the skills to achieve peaceful and just solutions to human conflicts. An unattainable ideal? I think not. Over the past 20 years as a trainer/mediator, I have been a participant/observer of an unprecedented movement in classrooms, communities, corporations, and international councils to better understand the nature of conflict and how to achieve constructive solutions. (04/08/03) U.S. warns U.N. to Butt Out GreenPeace -- An extraordinary communication from the United States to UN representatives around the world has been leaked to Greenpeace. In it, the United States warns that the simple act of support for a General Assembly meeting to discuss the war will be considered "unhelpful and directed against the United States." They further threaten that invoking the Uniting for Peace resolution will be "harmful to the UN." ... The Uniting for Peace resolution, which the US is trying to head off, has a long history of stopping conflict. Ironically, it has most often been invoked by the US to overcome vetoes by the Soviet Union during the cold war. Under its terms, the full 191 member United Nations General Assembly can gather to make recommendations for restoring the peace when the Security Council is deadlocked or unable to take action. Somewhat hilariously, one of the reasons the US says the General Assembly should not take up the issue of war in Iraq is that the "Security Council remains seized of this matter." Seized is certainly the correct term: the engine of peace is simply not turning. (04/08/03) Greater Fear The engineer said he was part of a team of about 20 from the local water bureau who have returned to work, using generators to run the water station that feeds the town. The generators allow them to supply about three-quarters of the town with water on alternating days, he said. He said that he was doing it because without water "the number of people who will die from typhoid and cholera will be more than from any bombs," but that he lives without protection and worries that his work will cost him his life. "I'm afraid they will knock on the door and kill me," he said. "No matter what we say, you have no idea how scared we are." He pleaded with a reporter visiting his home to leave quickly and not to ask more questions. "When Basra falls," he said, "your newspaper will not be fat enough to hold all of the stories we have to tell." (04/08/03) Two Million in American Jails CNN Nation -- The number of people in U.S. prisons and jails last year topped 2 million for the first time, driven by get-tough sentencing policies that mandate long terms for drug offenders and other criminals, the government reported Sunday. The federal government accounted for more inmates than any state, with almost 162,000, according to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, part of the Justice Department. That number includes the transfer of about 8,900 District of Columbia prisoners to the federal system. (04/08/03) There's No Business Like War Business BLINK -- In the latest 'Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations', the U.S. State Department predicts that U.S. arms sales are expected to reach over 14 billion dollars this year, the largest total in almost two decades, compared to 12.5 billion dollars in 2002. ''A tragic indicator of the values of our civilization is that there's no business like war business,'' says Douglas Mattern of the New York-based War and Peace Foundation. ''I believe arms sales will increase even beyond the staggering amount we have today, due to a continuing destabilization of the area and the lobbying for sales by the armament industry,'' Mattern told IPS.  One writer describes a ''charmed circle of American capitalism'', where Tomahawk and cruise missiles will destroy Iraq, Bechtel Corporation (which once employed U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney) will rebuild the country. And stolen Iraqi oil will pay for it.''  ... Global annual military spending was 780 billion dollars in 1999, 840 billion dollars in 2001 and is on target for one trillion dollars, according to U.N. estimates. (04/08/03) No Role for the UN after the War The Times UK -- Saddam has comprehensively ruined Iraq, leaving behind huge debts which have been estimated at around £65 billion. This money was not spent on development, or for the benefit of the people of Iraq, but on weapons for the army, presidential palaces for the Saddam family and high living for the regime, including its security apparatus of torturers and murderers. France and Russia, which supplied the arms, are no doubt among those with the largest holdings of Saddam’s debt. If the United Nations were responsible for reconstructing Iraq, France and Russia would be well placed to protect their financial interests. Each has a permanent seat on the Security Council; each has a veto. The American Administration would prefer to spend the money on the redevelopment of Iraq rather than on meeting the bills incurred by Saddam’s weapons programme. Russia might hope to be forgiven. The main Russian support for the Iraqi regime goes back to the time of the Soviet Union, much of it even to the days of Leonid Brezhnev. In those days the two totalitarian dictatorships naturally made good friends for each other. But Brezhnev is long dead, as is the Soviet Union, and the world is a cleaner place for it. In the case of France, Saddam’s leading sponsor over the years has been Jacques Chirac. He is very much alive, and living in the Elysée. (04/08/09) David Bloom Ignored Medical Advice Business Week -- Already known by millions of Americans as a co-host of NBC's Weekend Today show, Bloom's live coverage of the Iraqi war gained him an even wider audience, in large part because of the "Bloom-mobile." He traveled most of the time in an armored military-recovery vehicle with a camera mounted on a gyroscope that allowed it to absorb most of the shocks and bumps en route. A microwave antenna transmitted his voice and image to the rest of the NBC crew following several miles behind which then retransmitted the feed via satellite for broadcast. ... Tragically, it may have been the long hours he spent cramped in the Army vehicle that caused his death. Three days ago, Bloom had complained of cramps behind his knee. Like most of us journalists "embedded" in the Army, he had endured days and nights of working, eating, and sleeping in our vehicles as convoys snaked their way toward Baghdad. He consulted military doctors and described his symptoms over the phone to overseas physicians. They suspected DVT, or deep veinous thrombosis, and advised him to seek proper medical attention. He ignored their advice, swallowed some aspirins, and kept on working. On Sunday he died of a pulmonary embolism. (04/08/03) 5:50:49 AM

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