I can wish you peace because we have contributed to its happening!
Thank-you for the joy I feel. Sometimes our condition seems tragic, but when you take an overview, maybe it’s not-so-bad, and against the odds of money and organized white-collar death crimes.
The invisible bonds between us are exercised – – wow! look at those biceps!
Notes on a small sample of recent developments, the seeds for which were planted a long time ago, the roots for which have been growing steadily underground, before emerging into today’s healthy and fast growth watered by electronic communications. The death corporations had better watch out. Santa Claus is watching who has been naughty and who has been nice!
- You probably heard Washington state sues Monsanto over PCB pollution (Dec 9).
Spokane, Washington, . . . Portland, Oregon, and Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Long Beach and San Diego, California – have also sued Monsanto over PCB pollution,. . .those cases are ongoing.
Monsanto’s PCB and Agent Orange stories are “old”. They should never have happened. I always remember the 2002 Washington Post article – a “company town” in Alabama – – it is so incomprehensible that Monsanto would do to their own employees what they did. The haunting words, “No one was ever told”. In spite of what Monsanto’s top gunners knew,
Nevertheless, Monsanto told officials around the country the contrary. In a letter to New Jersey’s Department of Conservation that year, Monsanto wrote, “Based on available data, manufacturing and use experience, we do not believe PCBs to be seriously toxic.”
(Who would have ever thought that the Washington Post would have published the story?!)
I associate Monsanto with violence against people and the planet through
- their known poisons,
- knowingly used in chemical warfare by the U.S. (VietNam),
- knowingly applied in larger and larger quantities on agricultural lands and food crops
- with the concomitant poisoning of water.
As with the PCB’s, Monsanto knows.
It took decades of work by Veterans, activists, people who live adjacent to areas of aerial spraying, and Moms, sharing information and Marches to get to the point where a State in the U.S. is suing Monsanto.
After years of fighting them on numerous fronts, electronic communications collapsed the time it takes:
You probably know that Bayer (as in Bayer Crop Science and Bayer aspirin) WAS GOING TO purchase Monsanto for US$ 66 billion.
What a hoot! There is now a “social disclaimer” on the celebrated “Advancing Together” as one company. There is no date on the disclaimer; it would be Fall 2016 given this statement in the Disclaimer:
factors detailed in Monsanto’s Annual Report … filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2016 . . .
THE DISCLAIMER is at: https://www.advancingtogether.com/en/social-disclaimer-b/
I had to laugh when I read it. Sounds more like going down the toilet together.
= = = = = = = = = = = =
- You probably heard that the Federal Government (Canada) has banned asbestos. It took decades. Hundreds of thousands of deaths, too. Our network didn’t focus on it; others certainly put in their time in the trenches battling to keep it in the ground.
I am greatly encouraged by actions that address CAUSES – – even if they are in ways too late (the asbestos mines in Canada stopped producing in 2011).
Address the cause . . . address the cause . . .
lead in gasoline, smoking, PCBs, asbestos (more coming and faster because of our participation)
mental health, a culture that lacks meaning, has no raison d’etre, that destroys life
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
- You probably heard that the Standing Rock Sioux were joined by multitudes; it became impossible for the police/military forces to use the assembled violence against them.
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
Here is a little victory I think we scored. IF I am right, it means there is a level of awareness: what is happening to Monsanto will happen to Lockheed Martin.
Monsanto is not, of course, the whole of its industry, anymore than Lockheed is the whole of its industry. The point is that we know how to give the boot to the corruptors.
Let me start here, from 2002-11-21:
. . . Gandhi taught us non-violent resistance. Bill Gates gave us “business at the speed of thought” – rapid communications to thousands. Oprah Winfrey on her television show is teaching empowerment to millions of people, women in particular.
Look at the history of war. War, “a contest or conflict”. Hand-to-hand combat. Mounted on horses. Bows and arrows. Guns. Cannons. Poison gas. Atomic bombs. Nuclear devices. Chemical warfare. Napoleonic wars, World War 1, World War 2, Kuwait, Afghanistan …
Aaah, but how one-sided the view is! That history comes from the vested powers. Seldom are we reminded of the triumphant history of wars won by empowered ordinary citizens who prevailed over the vested powers:
– Gandhi and his march of defiance which asserted that India would be run for the benefit of Indians, not the colonial power. That was a war as great as any. What was the ammunition and the weapon?
– the people in East Germany who gathered on Sunday mornings in village squares, all wearing a white shirt. They formed a circle and held hands. The movement spread quickly from town-to-town and bamboozled the guns of the East German military, who understood it was an act of defiance, but were powerless: how would they be able to explain the gunning down of people for standing in a circle and holding hands?!
We are seldom reminded that the “Iron Curtain”, the Berlin Wall came down through non-violent resistance. That was a feat as great as Gandhi’s. There was no massive loss of life. What was the ammunition and the weapon?
– it took a war inside America to get the United States out of the Vietnam war. It was a long and hard battle, but once again, victory was achieved without large-scale bloodshed in that internal conflict (civil war). It was ordinary people in the communities of America that stopped the Pentagon. Have we forgotten that? What was the ammunition and the weapon?
– Martin Luther King Junior, a general who led masses to over-power a culture that was killing.
It’s all war – – but the weaponry is different.
Today, the internet, information and e-communications compress time. It no longer takes decades to accomplish what needs to be done.
Enough for today – – I will tell you the little victory I think we scored, later.
May you and your family find joy in the struggle for more peace.
/Sandra
Excellent piece Sandra.
Along these lines…How do we get all the separate “single issue” organizations, blogs, individuals all over the internet to combine and work together? We need a thousand arrows all pointing in the same direction!
Ghandi and Indian independence, Vietnam, de-segregation, were all single issues that infuriated millions.
We need one issue…maybe water…that every group can identify with and support.
Any thoughts, Best to you, Derek
Derek – – I am going to make a separate posting for your thoughts about your question. I am hoping others will add their thoughts, too.
For my part, I am thinking that there has been a lot of research into the ingredients or characteristics – – what does it take to make a successful revolution? To me, that is essentially what your question asks.
I think I can capture some basics from the research in fairly short order. I will let you know as soon as I have a posting ready to go.
You identify important elements (what causes people to point their “thousand arrows” in the same direction? People can be angry with the puppet masters, but they don’t mobilize – – under what conditions does that happen (you want the factors in place such that enough people see and know we can create a better potential future for our kids – – our current path is of an extremely large herd of lemmings running breathlessly to ensure we all go over the cliff togeeeether.)
/Sandra
I wish us all JUSTICE, Sandra. That’s a Quaker word for PEACE
Jerry
Thanks Sandra.
The cracks are showing (letting the light shine in…Cohen)
And the wave is growing.
Peace..eh…Frank
To Sandra
There is another subject. For now, 1 word. Sudatenland, Look it up.
Food for thought. Silence is not golden.
Rene Moreau (416-489-8347)
Thank you Sandra. You have done and continue to do so much good. I find you inspiring. Robert Hall
Great call to action, Sandra. Reminding us of the two civil wars fought within the boundaries of the USA gives me hope for the next one – sooner than thought with Trump at the helm. Solstice Greetings to you too.
From: Nancy
Sent: December 26, 2016 11:43 AM
Subject: Re: I wouldn’t like to wish you peace if there was no hope for it.
. . . Speaking of peace, encourage a study of Marshall Rosenburg’s audio book Speaking Peace, individually or as a group.
Electrons are racing from just installed solar panels into my house 🙂
Thank you Sandra. You Have a first class collection box in the Battles.
It occurs to me that one major issue will be the collective use of mailing lists so that one agreed arrow can be fired from a million bows.
Derek
From: Gerald
Sent: December 27, 2016 1:56 PM
Subject: Re: I wouldn’t like to wish you peace if there was no hope for it.
Thank you so much my friend, I am still hunkered down in psychic fear of what happened south of the border so your message was especially welcomed. thank you
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world.
JOHN MUIR
I have looked at it this way, Gerald:
We are in dire straits on a number of fronts.
The election of Clinton might have been worse than the election of Trump because it would not have caused the upheaval by citizens that comes with Trump.
We need the upheaval. More of the status quo in the corrupted political, financial, educational and justice systems is a doomsday scenario.
To me Trump has exploded the walls that concealed the rot. Now that it’s laid out for all Americans to view, there is at least the potential for moral and creative leadership to rise to the challenge of using the varied talents of good people to re-build.
We need replacements, not amendments. And urgently. The election of Trump should focus the revolution on what it is that Trump represents. Which is a big part of the problem. Hollywood America deals in illusion. A citizenry steeped in propaganda; they do not know their own country, reality versus illusion. (not any more than Canadians know the extent of and collusion with the intrusion of the American military-industrial-Government-University complex into Canada and how that manifests itself.)
I was thinking about the word “arrogance”. You would know much better than me the Eastern or First Nations understanding about the relationship between arrogance and knowledge. It is understood that the more you learn, the more knowledgeable you become, the more you become aware, the more HUMBLE you become. You understand how little you actually know, how much more there is to learn.
An arrogant person or society believes they, their intellect and their ways are superior to others. They wear blinders, seeing only the path directly in front of them. Their learning is inhibited. An older friend who has studied Buddhism told me that the definition of arrogant is to be ignorant of the fact that you are ignorant. That is a valid viewpoint, although not an understanding communicated by dictionaries of English.
Hopefully that is another trait that Americans can recognize through seeing their society reflected in the person they collectively elected in the system they have tolerated, the person who represents them – Trump. Once recognized, it can be addressed.
A nation built on propaganda and illusion produces ignorance. I don’t see how we can hope to collectively find solutions to climate change and other threats to our survival if the citizenry is kept in a state of widespread ignorance.
I do not mean to say that Canada is much better. We are lacking. Our educational institutions falter – – it seems to me that most universities are clueless about their responsibility to ensure that the students they graduate, at a fundamental level MUST have the skills and knowledge to understand and actualize the role and responsibilities of a citizen. There is a bias which to me reflects a worrisome ignorance about the role of creativity in a society (the Arts), the importance of impeccable role models. Incestuous relationships, unchallenged systems, the use of “spin” all connive to make a mockery of critical thinking.
Keep talking Gerald! Create the sea change.
/Sandra
P.S. I have been curious about the origin of the phrase “sea change:. You may be interested. From Wikipedia:
Sea-change or seachange, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, means “a change wrought by the sea.”[1] The term originally appears in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest in a song sung by a supernatural spirit, Ariel, to Ferdinand, a prince of Naples, after Ferdinand’s father’s apparent death by drowning:
Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones are coral made,
Those are pearls that were his eyes,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change,
into something rich and strange,
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell,
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them, ding-dong, bell.
The term sea-change is therefore often used to mean a metamorphosis or alteration.[2][3] For example, a literary character may transform over time into a better person after undergoing various trials or tragedies (e.g. “There is a sea change in Scrooge’s personality towards the end of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.”) As with the term Potemkin village, sea-change has also been used in business culture. In the United States, sea-change is often used as a corporate buzzword. In this context, it need not refer to a substantial or significant transformation, but can indicate a far less impressive change.[4]
From: James Harrison
Sent: December 25, 2016 12:35 PM
Subject: Re: I wouldn’t like to wish you peace if there was no hope for it.
Thank you dear lady. It has been awhile since we communicated directly.
If you celebrate Christmas I hope you have a wonderful holiday.
If you celebrate the Solstice, this one was particularly powerful for our tribe; and our Grand Mother the Earth, has been bountiful and generous to us at this turn its revolution of the Earth around its axis and its star, the Sun. I hope yours was as well.
As for “peace” and the ‘hope of it’.
As a Native American activist for over forty years I am quoted when I state (also as an author) that when the Anglo European, Judean/Christian invasion began in 1492 it brought with it genocide and destruction the likes of which the Native American people of the entire continent had never experienced before.
The fact that they were fairly busy inflicting the same upon each other is not lost in my assessment and the only reason the Native Americans had not inflicted the same level of destruction upon each other was simply a result of the lack of more powerful weaponry, not to mention the contagions that the Europeans barely understood; but recognized long before they arrived here.
In short “peace” is as much a HUMAN INVENTION as the opposite. Both occur naturally among the animal kingdom of which humanity is a relatively recent evolutionary arrival. But BOTH, peace and conflict, are a matter of choice as much as invention.
When humanity makes the final decision to either live in peace or not, they will be perfectly capable of maintaining it , for as long as they wish, but they need to make some very large and positive moves in the direction of deciding upon peace. Their weaponry and capabilities for total destruction have far out paced their logic, and it seems their collective intelligence, and they are precariously on the edge of an “Anthropocene” and by many accounts have already begun that terrible prospect.
As for the USA, UNLESS they make some drastic changes; SOON, IS a nation that history will have no other choice but to remember as a terrible example of human frailty, arrogance, belligerence, and criminal capabilities. A nation for just one example that is currently in illegal possession of more than 60% of its geographic territory as a result of violating its own constitution’s Art 6, “All Treaties are Supreme Law”. A nation who’s every action taken since its beginning has been one of criminal intent, of what by their own actions can only be considered a “criminal nation’ that by all appearances (especially recently) is populated by a “nation of criminals”. A nation that has the most FANTASTIC CAPABILITIES—-and potential to be a bright shining light to humanity. A nation that has the same capabilities to be a terrible warning to humanity as a negative example. A nation that has now by all appearances revealed to the entire planet that they have collectively lost their minds and allowed an antiquated “hold over” from the 18th century—the “Electoral College” to prove to the world that they are dangerous beyond any imagination and either need to be isolated; or annihilated; and as swiftly as possible.
As for me and my tribe we choose “peace” and will maintain that choice as long as we can with the knowledge that we have the skills, the intelligence, the abilities and indeed the “genes”—–to survive that which comes our way. We will be here long after the ‘Americans’ have proved their worth or their undoing.
Hope to see you there with the other survivors.
From: evangeline
Sent: January 8, 2017 12:35 PM
To: Sandra Finley
Subject: Re: I wouldn’t like to wish you peace if there was no hope for it.
Yes, I agree with the overview. It was a lot (my opinion) when I was a child. I recall down to my age of 4 1/2. I remember being shot at when i was five.
Horrors that people, and especially children, should never have to experience. And that leave life-long scars.
Keep up the good fight, Evangeline. Hopefully we will arrive at a better world.