Forest Scene

From In the Course of Events

Priest Point Park

September 17, 2009

Olympic Moutains Seen from Budd Bay

State Violence Against Civilians

Went to Tacoma in the past couple days to observe a trial brought by protesters of military shipments at the Port of Olympia against members of the Olympia Police Department. The allegation was use of excessive force.

I wrote more about the trial, about the protests, and about society in relation to those two topics, on OlyBlog: olyblog.net/protesters-v-police-—-use-excessive-force-allegations

Care is "Dull" at the Bohemian Grove: Global Dominance, Economic Exploitation, and Social Violence

I left the following comment on The Olympian.com. I believe that the problems of social violence, economic exploitation, and environmental degradation are connected with policies like global dominance, which is a political concept espoused by many of the most powerful men in the world, some of whom meet at the Bohemian Grove (near Monte Rio, CA), for a Summer Encampment - where they celebrate the "Cremation of Care." Here's a link to a story about the case of Lindsey Baum. Lindsey is a missing child, who disappeared more than four months ago. I believe the problem of missing children is interrelated with other problems of society. Link to the story with my comment: After four months, authorities have little evidence in Lindsey Baum case

And here's the comment I made:

I am of the opinion that the problem of missing children is directly related to the societal ethics of putting profit before people. Lindsey Baum went missing about a month before the annual Bohemian Grove Summer Encampment. At the encampment, some of the world's most powerful businessmen and political decision makers partake in a ceremony called The Cremation of Care, which involves the ritual cremation of "Dull Care" - the effigy of a sacrificed child. I believe this attitude - that care is dull - on the part of the world's most powerful men is directly related to societal violence, and domestic abuses, including but certainly not limited to child disappearances and abductions.


[more information:] Missing Children, Global Dominance, The Bohemian Grove, and The Cremation of Care

CIA, Italy, Rendition (and Afghanistan and Drugs)

Something I posted on the White House Facebook Wall:

Italy Convicts 23 Americans for C.I.A. Renditions - NYTimes.com



Christine Beirne DeCamp
I just read about this.....interesting to see if obama decides to hang our CIA out to dry too.
Yesterday at 1:36pm

Todd Stark
the CIA has some of the dirtiest hands know to man....I doubt obama will change any of that
Yesterday at 1:50pm

Berd Whitlock
Unfortunately, I think the CIA poses one of the greatest threats to the health and well-being of the President. We only have to look at the events surrounding the assassination of JFK JR. to begin to ask the difficult questions that need to be asked about whom, and what, controls US foreign policy.

When the President speaks out, the President very well may be putting his own life in danger. I don't think anyone wants that. What we need to do is educate the public about the CIA.
Yesterday at 1:58pm

Berd Whitlock
Well, one important aspect to consider is that the Taliban had all but eradicated opium production. That was then, before the invasion. -Now, Afghanistan produces 93% of the world's opium supplies. I heard a statistic that opium production has increased 35-FOLD since the 2001 US/NATO invasion.

CIA and Drugs... There's a lot of information published about this connection - even a story about George HW Bush allegedly using an F-104 to run suspicious missions.
Yesterday at 2:17pm

Al Croke
Great video on the CIA Drug Trade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbfuTv6ZJ8I&eurl
Yesterday at 2:21pm

Brian Willcock
Al that reminded me of this:http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cu44.htm
Yesterday at 2:28pm

Bill Halstead
I wish I could say I like this, but the grim fact is the CIA operatives are not the guilty ones - just like Lynddie England and others are not the guilty ones for the crimes they were convicted of. Yes, they were wrong, yes they should be punished, but ONLY if the investigations push on up the chains of command. It is unjust to punish the front line people and not the masterminds - Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Gonzales, Yoo, Bybee et al. These are the REAL criminals here...

The White House, the Pentagon, and War (etc.)

The following is a comment (slightly amended for clarity) that I just posted to the White House Facebook Page. I was inspired by a Nick Turse article from Tomdispatch.com, Tomgram: Nick Turse, In Afghanistan, the Pentagon Digs in.

To President Obama and Administration:

I believe that war is an outmoded and archaic way to deal with dispute. The USA has a serious problem in its relationship with the world - because our government seems to be content to enable a corporatist policy of global dominance. Under the policy of global dominance, some few act as though they are entitled to receive state support for their efforts to "take without asking" (of material and other resources) - and to exert political and economic influence on sovereign peoples/nations/lands.

That's imperialism. It hurts people. It's very sad.

I strongly believe that a "hands off" approach is a far better way to approach international relationships. No coercive pressure. No economic exploitation. The disparity in wealth between rich and poor is astronomical - and I strongly believe that the massive riches of some is all too often NOT based purely on merit.

The extreme wealth of a very small class of people is based more purely on single-minded (and unregulated) ambition. The extreme wealth is based on a willingness to dominate others and "put others down" (including the natural environment.) The tremendous treasure of those few is based in economically exploitative behaviors that, when all is said and done, serve only an individual's economic interest. Some people's wealth comes at the expense of the well-being of others. It's an arrangement that is very far from copacetic.

Please stop the torturing and the bombing. It's a horrible disservice to humanity.

We can choose to go in the direction of truth, love, hope and justice. Or we can continue this horrible decay of war and environmental abuses. We have a choice. Please, President Obama and Administration, use your voice. Lead America toward the right choice. Lead away from violence, fear, and hate. Lead toward kindness, love, truth, justice and peace. Show us that you are not profiteers by clamping down on these tremendously harmful behaviors.

In Afghanistan - there is no military solution short of total destruction, and that is not a solution at all. So there is no military solution. Many people of Afghanistan hate the Taliban. But many of them have come to hate America even more. American soldiers have been told that the way to win the war is to make people fear them more than anyone else. To rule by fear. It's not the way to make friends - nor is it the way to peace.

Does the USA want peace, or does the USA want domination? It's a serious question. The only rational interpretation is that the USA wants domination. The USA can't have it both ways. It's either domination or peace. They don't go hand in hand.

Please choose the path of peace. Please show us the caring spirit that exists in the hearts of all human beings. Please demonstrate your concern for the well-being of all people.

The situation is serious. The planet's ecological systems are in crisis. We need to confront the problem of perpetual economic growth and come to understand that it is antithetical to sustainability. Instead of growth dependent markets, we would do well to transition to a steady state economy.

Thank you.

[I also wrote another one yesterday, viewable at this link: Letter to the President, as Posted on Facebook]

Black Hills in Black and White

20 Second Exposure with Bright Moon

Talking Heads | This Must Be the Place

Talking Heads | Psycho Killer

Thoughts on Harmful Economic Activities

written on the sky:

I think it is wrong to reap private profit off of destructive activities. What do you think?

It's wrong to reap private gain from harmful activities. Sounds crazy, right? But it's really not. Maybe the reason it sounds extreme is because of how our society has turned into an incredibly harmful beast - a beast that it capable of destroying all life on the planet. That's a tremendous feat of engineering. We, as a society, are going in the wrong direction - and majorly so. We are hurting life, and those who live. Instead of damaging nature and hurting living creatures, we ought to be going in the direction of protecting and serving all life.

It's common sense. We're all part of one human family. Indeed, we are all part of one interconnected web, of which all life is part. So when there is imbalance in one area, there is imbalance in all areas.

I think that it is time for humanity to right its wrongs, to restore harmony in its relationships: in its relationships with itself, as well as in its relationship with the planet and all living creatures.

There is a strong need for balance. We all suffer while the fates of life on Earth and future generations of human beings hang in the balance.

Photos from Evergreen Woods in Autumn

Evergreen Forest

Reaganomics

A Tacoma News Tribune user named Reaganomics left me a public message on my user profile:

Reaganomics wrote:

Berd, I am so happy you went to the protest. This little example should help you understand why these two cowards should not be released. Let's say you are organizing a protest. You assign me to bring the granola. I assure you that I will bring a whole Subaru full of healthy granola to feed the hungry protesters. When protest day happens I fail to show up with the required supplies. No one is willing to protest because they don't have the energy. That would mean that I failed to keep my word to you as my commander-in-chief. That is what these fellows did, except their error could mean someone else forfits their life. I hope this little example helps you understand.

10/24/2009 6:00 AM PDT on Tacoma - The News Tribune

To which I replied:

BerdWhitlock wrote:

Reaganomics:

Let's consider a little anecdote.

Let's say that I want control over the whole world. Let's say I want global dominance.

Let's say you have something I consider an important prize in your yard. Let's say that I think this prize is connected to my posture of global dominance. Oh do I ever want this prize. But there's a problem.

You also want this prize. In fact, you don't want me to control it, or to take it. And you are not offering it for sale.

I consider the prize a "vital interest."

I want it so bad. So let's say I will create a government, complete with a military, for the purpose of taking the prize from the yard where you live.

Now I consider the prize a "vital national interest." And I convince a large portion of my country that it truly is. I also convince a large portion of my country that you are dangerous, evil, backward, and a threat to their way of life.

Next, Let's say I will bomb you and your country, invade it with my army, and fight ruthlessly against anyone who resists my efforts to establish control. I will fight so ruthlessly that I will not hesitate to open fire in the presence of civilians- so that even your children are endangered by your resistance to my occupation.

Imagine that.

That is what America has done.

I hope this little example helps you understand what the USA has done.

10/26/2009 4:17 PM PDT on Tacoma - The News Tribune

Capitalism ≠ Democracy

Capitalism does not equal democracy. In fact, in many respects, an under-regulated/deregulated/unregulated capitalism is anti-democratic. In a capitalistic society, where monied interests have privilege and special influence over government, democracy is threatened, because the pre-requisite for full access to political participation is money. Under capitalism, money is the object of worship - instead of democracy, where participation in decision-making by people is the ideal. So, capitalism does not equal democracy. Nor does the practice of free-market capitalism constitute freedom. True freedom necessitates freedom for all. In a capitalism that is practiced without adherence to humanistic moral principles (where, for example, great powers are driven to war with each other for profit,) there is no freedom. There is only slavery. Even the rich are enslaved to the financial bottom-line, enslaved by want for money, and enslaved also by fear of losing money. In a society where capitalistic is under-regulated, the interests of profit are put before the interests of people. People are hurt, sacrificed, and more-or-less enslaved to serve the interests of capital.

Instead of this, I think it would be better where people work to serve the interests of themselves, of humanity, and of all life. Toward a life-serving society, Berd

some profit while others are made to suffer...

which reminds me of a quote by Dorothy Day:

"Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy rotten system."

How Have You Been | Crosby, Stills and Nash

Foggy Landing