Tuesday, March 18, 2003

Mixed Emotions QUOTE OF THE DAY "Until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there'll be war. Until that day the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, and the rule of international morality, will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained, and everywhere is war." - - spoken by Haile Selassie, & sung by Robert Nesta Marley RHINO HERE: I have mixed emotions today. Reading over so many articles & columns & letters about how we stand at the brink of history & how we got there & who's to blame & what terrible things might happen & what wonderful things could result. Idi Amin left Uganda at the end of his tyrannical reign and has been living in exile ever since. Guess where. Saudi Arabia. So how 'bout it Saddam? If he did, it MIGHT make it easier for the Iraqi population, liberating them from his control of their countries wealth & freedoms, and just as liberating, freeing them from the suffering caused by the 10 year embargo of medicine & the equipment needed for clean water. If Saddam were to leave, it would likely save American lives, but it won't have fixed the list of problems the U.S. & its' former allies round the world face due to the havoc being wreaked by the shrub gang. So with convoluted focus, where should Rhino direct your attention today? There's the well deserved  righteous indignation of Michael Moore: A Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush on the Eve of War, 3/17/03 Dear Governor Bush:  So today is what you call "the moment of truth," the day that "France and the rest of world have to show their cards on the table." I'm glad to hear that this day has finally arrived. Because, I gotta tell ya, having survived 440 days of your lying and conniving, I wasn't sure if I could take much more. So I'm glad to hear that today is Truth Day, 'cause I got a few truths I would like to share with you... http://www.MICHAELMOORE.COM/words/message/index.php Or the measured yet unflinching eloquence of Noam Chomsky: The case against U.S. Adventurism in Iraq Noam Chomsky, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 3/13/03 The most powerful state in history has proclaimed that it intends to control the world by force, the dimension in which it reigns supreme.  President Bush and his cohorts evidently believe that the means of violence in their hands are so extraordinary that they can dismiss anyone who stands in their way. The consequences could be catastrophic in Iraq and around the world. The United States may reap a whirlwind of terrorist retaliation -- and step up the possibility of nuclear Armageddon.... http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/3748171.html The ever staunchly "My Left Roots" Tom Hayden: This Is What History Feels Like Text of Tom Hayden's speech  in Los Angeles, March 15. (To 50,000 people in the pouring rain) This is what democracy looks like!  Repeat after me: This is what history feels like! A movement the think tanks thought unthinkable.  A movement that corporations cannot brand. That the entertainers cannot distract.  And the politicians cannot avoid. Empire versus democracy is the choice... http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030331&s=hayden Or our elected U.S. President in exile, Al Gore, whose campaign speech during the 1992 Presidential election has been excavated for it's new relevance: (He refers to Papa Bush, not the little shrub) Excerpts from Gore's speech of September 29, 1992 ...George Bush wants the American people to see him as the hero who put out a raging fire. But new evidence now shows that he is the one who set the fire. He not only struck the match, he poured gasoline on the flames. So give him credit for calling in the fire department, but understand who started the blaze... http://www.republicons.org/view_article.asp?RP_ARTICLE_ID=600 All of these choices are appropriate today yet the one that gives me the most hope and assistance in refocusing is that of the 93 year old beloved  activist, Doris Haddock,  known as"Granny D". If you haven't heard of her, you should know that in 1999, at the age of 89, she walked across the U.S. to promote campaign reform. May we all be that gutsy till the day we die. THE BOTTOM LINE is her speech in D.C. earlier this month at International Women's Day Peace Rally. For more about Granny D's work & to learn about her plans to oust who she calls, "the man in the White House", go to her web site at: http://grannyd.com/ 7:44:07 AM    comment

Doris "Granny D" Haddock Doris "Granny D" Haddock Speaking at International Women's Day Peace March and Rally Washington, DC, Saturday, March 8, 2003 We meet in disturbing times but we must not be disturbed. We must be calm and peaceful, for peace cannot come from hearts disturbed and angry. And peace, if it is to come, must come first from our own hearts. Here are some things to give us some calm comfort. France and Germany are together in something at last, and our man in the White House deserves a Nobel Peace Prize at least for that, if for nothing else. The man in the White House is the best political organizer we have ever had. He generated the largest protest demonstrations the earth has ever seen last month. He has us organizing on the peace front, the civil liberties front, the environmental front, the domestic budget front -- everywhere, people are waking up after a long sleep. It is a dangerous time, but a great time -- a great awakening -- and we must give credit to the man whose monumental presumption has made this possible. Will our hearts be on a roller coaster of his design? Will he control our happiness and our anger? We must not give him that. There is only one way off this roller coaster, and that is to focus our lives now on November 2nd, 2004. That is the mountaintop we must have in the center of our vision. Here is what we must do. We must of course find a good candidate who can represent all of us well, including the moderate middle of American thought, where elections are won. We must not look for the perfect candidate, but for a candidate who believes in the value of life on earth and who will uphold the Bill of Rights, which is now under attack by Bush's wildly unpatriotic Patriot Act and the proposed Patriot Act II, which is a treason... READ GRANNY D'S ENTIRE SPEECH AT: http://grannyd.com/speech20030308.htm "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. 7:27:12 AM    comment

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