Vote yes on 49

Keep Oregon green

Protest this Saturday

I will be there in spirit. I'm not about to drive 5 hours one way to Seattle, burning oil, to protest the War. That would be silly.

War with Iran is Unacceptable

With regards to the media coverage/chatter/drums of war beating regarding Iran, I just need to say that it seems like the administration is deliberately acting to enlarge the threat that Iran poses. Bush, as is typical, is pouring gasoline on the flames, blowing oxygen into the flames.

Iran is not a friend of the West. Iran is against Israel. Fine. The way to deal with a potential threat is not make it worse. Could it be that the reason some Iranians don't trust the US, much less Bush, is because of our historic role in toppling democratically elected leaders and installing puppet regimes?

If its about the oil then at least have the cojones to admit it. Oil addiction is no joke. I don't have first hand knowledge, but my understanding of heroin and meth addiction is that the addict is obsessed. The drug takes over the person and uses him/her to continue to have itself used and abused. Oil addiction is not unlike meth addiction. Just know that in my humble opinion, ANY blood for oil, American, Iraqi, or Iranian or human blood is entirely unacceptable.

The fact is they don't have nuclear weapons. This is a case of a self-fulfilling prophecy. We keep accusing them of having nuclear weapons so they figure they better actually get some before its too late. Strengthen and give credibility and validity to the IAEA. Hans Blix was right, Iraq didn't have weapons. By going through international, transparent channels we can achieve the most credibility.

Bush and Co. got it so totally wrong about Iraq. There is absolutely no reason to take one word that they say about Iran seriously. War with Iran is off the table.

Before I hear one more word about Iran we need to re-investigate what happened on 9-11.

Matsutake madness

This past weekend we went on our semi-regular pilgrimage to the dunes of Oregon to see what bounty the fall rains and plentiful pine mulch with a certain mycelium could offer. We were blessed. We are up to our necks in matsutake. What a fantastic treasure of nature.

Ursula LeGuin

I recently finished reading The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin. This was an interesting and enjoyable read. She is so creative and intelligent! I love the concept of being in kemmer, both for Gethenians and for Terrans (always in kemmer) what a concept! Highly recommended. I should add that this was one of those books that was acquired years ago, but only recently read. I have many books I want to get to, but for some reason it always has to be the right time for a certain book, otherwise I can't really get into it. For example, I've had the book Thought Contagion for awhile now, but the last time I tried reading it I fell asleep.

Vipassana meditation book

A few nights ago I did a google search for "the meaning of life" and came across a website called stevepavlina.com wherein, steve pavlina tells a remarkable story about his personal journey and experience. While surfing through some comments, I then came across a free web book on meditation. I'm still reading it but just want to post about it. I'm on the fifth chapter and its very interesting. I've always been interested in meditation but have yet to summon the discipline to start a regular practice.

Please check out these sites and tell me what you think of them.

John Frohnmayer for US Senate

This gentleman is running for Gordon Smith's seat. Based on a quick glance at his website, I have to say I support his candidacy. He's for impeachment for all the right reasons. I suppose being Dave Frohnmayer's brother shouldn't count as a strike against him.

His participation in Corvallis Open Forum isn't biasing my endorsement either, really.

this is fucking bullshit

let us please have a show of hands, is this fucking bullshit or what?

Are we really just going to sit here while this trend continues? How bad does it have to get?

Tell me.

why i love public radio

I just heard the most amazing nun on the radio. Her name is Sister Joan Chittister, and well, if you have the time, please check it out here.

Which brings me to another point. People say there are two sides to everything. First of all, that is a simplistic and inaccurate statement. There might be two sides. But more likely, there might be 15 sides for all we know. Many questions, the important questions especially, are quite often beyond the description of words, much less the answers. Secondly, as we progress as a species, some things become one-sided. (Slavery is evil and must be stopped, for example) There appears to be emerging a global consensus in the area of, for lack of a better term, progressive thought. I believe this convergence, which originates from the most diverse and varied points/individuals, (its decidedly not coming from the establishment) to be indicative of greater truth. That is to say, in a nutshell, we're right.

Those of us who believe in one love, that we should strive for equality and justice for All, those of us who deplore the raping, pillaging and fouling of our Earth, those of us who struggle to find hope in a society dominated by a massive concentration of wealth and destructive power the likes of which the world has never seen, those of us who are less concerned with someone's religion and sexuality as we are with the tangible results of our lives (are you bringing forth more love or less, more compassion or less?), those of us who hold sacred exisiting human life in addition to the embryonic, even as we work to minimize the need for the practice of ending embryonic life, those of us who consider the coming generation when analyzing our actions, We are on the right path.

We should question and vet, we should play devil's advocate, and we should always consider all viewpoints, but there comes a point when, as in science, truth emerges and naysayers expose themselves as less than credible. To continue to insist the earth is flat despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary doesn't serve any positive purpose in the long run. Ask yourself, is holding this belief contributing to a better world or does it feed my pocketbook/ego? Does it lead to equality and justice for All? or does it maintain the status quo?

Honest disagreement is a part of the process, there are countless questions left to be debated and investigated, but I think there are a great number of critically important issues where a broad, all-inclusive consensus exists despite every effort by the powers that be to confuse and conquer.

Am I trying to wage class war? I'm not waging anything, the ruling class has left a trail of blood from here back to the dawn of history. I'm fighting for survival.

The War

is over. The Ken Burns PBS documentary, The War, that is.

I've been watching it all along and don't know what to think. People say it was a necessary war. I put this notion to the folks at last week's forum and some responded saying that it was the Geneva conventions that created the conditions for WWII to happen in the first place, and thus could have been avoided with better foresight at the conclusion of WWI. A man in the film said that evil exists. I'm not so blind as to think that evil doesn't exist. Evil being defined as a capacity within people to commit horrendous atrocities on other people and the Earth. Indeed, we are all witnesses to evil in this day and age, as our (p)resident lays waste to a million innocent people in Iraq so that he and his buddies can steal their oil. Blood for oil? are you fucking kidding me? WTF? Of course, they can't admit the truth, they must disguise their intentions with high flying rhetoric about democracy and freedom, even as they desecrate the Constitution and piss on REAL democracy.

But I digress. I think Ken Burns' documentary is timely and valuable in that it so clearly illustrates how the present occupation of Iraq is anything but necessary, taking the points from the documentary at face value. It so clearly illustrates how overwhelmingly united and determined and willing to sacrifice the nation was during WWII, traits that are conspicuously absent today.

The documentary falls short though, by not refuting the notion that war is inevitable. In fact, I daresay it glorifies war. Evil exists but better solutions exist for preventing war, and terrorism, i might add. Just because people, 99.99% men, have waged wars for thousands of years and indeed, all of recorded history, doesn't mean that we can't envision a future free of war. In a world consistently full of dichotomies, I believe that now that we have fully realized our capacity for destruction and death, we have a responsibility to fully realize our hitherto latent capacity for creation and life. We can and we must.

We few who care frequently come back to the notion that the ignorant sleeping masses must be woken up. How to achieve this in a world of relative plenty and plenty of distractions? Bread and Circuses, as John Bogle (among others) said. Should we be ready for the inevitable collapse and hope to ride it out? or actually try to slow the train down, as I've suggested in the poll? Tonight I'm leaning toward gettin off while the gettin's good and hope to survive. I'm utterly stumped as to how to swim against this massive current and furthermore, get many others to do so as well.

Everything and everyone are connected. Life is a miracle to be cherished and relished. I suppose I should just be grateful for my conscience, and just take it day by day, doing what I can, when I can, trying to create alliances with others, trying to encourage more love and joy and less hate and fear.

Why are we so impatient? Why do we insist on creating change overnight? Who am I to think that I know better than those I call 'asleep'?

I like Mike...Gravel

The Newshour has been doing interviews with all of the major candidates for president, even Mike Gravel tonight. This guy is for real. He's got some good ideas and he's not bought off by big corporate campaign money. After seeing the interview I thought about re-registering Dem to vote in the primary.

Something else unrelated, i meant to post this before, but forgot. who are these people and why would they be saying these things?

sieg heil!

view this and weep for we are accelerating down the slippery slope of fascism.

link is to a video of the student being tazered after asking a question to john kerry. what a fucking tool.

many people applauded too, which is the truly horrific part.

interesting interview

as a 'failed' economist, i still occasionally find myself with an ear for 'real' economists, alan greenspan in particular lately, i guess as a result of his massive book promotion campaign.

well, after linking over to alternet through nina's blog posting on credit/maxed out, i saw this article/interview/debate by amy goodman and naomi klein with alan greenspan.

i have to hand it to him for agreeing to the interview/debate, but he failed to adequately address the issues raised by klein. it seems apparent to me, from the text, that greenspan is an old school inhabitant of the ivory tower without any concept of sustainability. he keeps using the tired argument that capitalism as we know it has created the most wealth ever and that the system is working great. he doesn't recognize the shortsightedness of rapid resource depletion, especially one as critical as fossil fuel. he doesn't realize that there is no substitute for oil. not in the time frame used by economists to rationalize resource depletion.

greenspan doesn't have the well being of ALL in mind. he still thinks we will grow our way to eliminating poverty. he had the gall to refer to populist politics as shortsighted. what a laugh!

he in effect excuses crony capitalism as a part of human nature. he recognizes it and yet doesn't take the next step of saying it is criminal. he was the greatest for the captains of capital, he was the worst for the common man.

report on this week's forum

well, this week was interesting, very interesting.

to start with, i'm not sure when it happened but as i was pulling the trailer along, i noticed it seemed unusually heavy. at first i thought i was just feeling sluggish, but later it turns out the trailer had a flat, probably for most of the ride down there. not a big deal, though.

at the site, a couple bikes were parked in our spot, again, but no big deal. i proceeded to set up. i knew dan and courtney weren't going to be there but after tom, no one was showing up. charles did after awhile and then a group of 5 or 6 people carrying ron paul signs showed up. the one guy had stopped by before. so they kicked it off, eager to spread the message of ron paul.

i knew ron paul was against the war but i was not as aware of some of the other things with which i agree, like bringing american troops home from other parts of the world, such as korea, getting the government out of american's private lives, ending corporate rule. i guess there are many aspects of the libertarian viewpoint with which i, as a member of the far left, can agree with. (as charles noted, greens can be called socialist libertarians) to be sure there are aspects i don't agree with, but wrt the forum, i felt almost vindicated and validated more than ever before. iow, what these ron paul supporters illustrated was that the possibility for consensus on some very important and critical issues amongst ordinary people is indeed vast and that the forum is a good way to establish that.

well, the rp party left after awhile and we remaining few carried on a little while, eventually devolving into a casual discussion without keeping time. at which point i proceeded to fix the flat and get something to eat.

it was another beautiful morning, wish you were there.

tomorrow is international park(ing) day!

check this out

http://parkingday.org/

email to rep. hooley

Dear Congresswoman Hooley,

I was not there to greet you when you stopped by to speak about the Willamette, but I wanted to be. Perhaps next time.

I'm writing today to express to you my outrage at the Blackwater situation in Iraq and the privatization of the military in general. I don't think private firms should receive no-bid government contracts and be able to act above any law.

The fact that we have devolved to the point of having mercenary forces suggests yet another parallel to the fall of Rome.

Please do what you can to bring Blackwater criminals to justice and end the practice of hiring mercenary forces.

Thank you for your sincere efforts on behalf of the people of the 5th district of Oregon.

measure 50

measure 50 does two things, it creates a huge disincentive to smoke and it funds healthcare for children. looking long term, the less people smoke, the less healthcare funding, from this source. presumably the goal is to minimize smoking to zero, so eventually, this source of funding will wither to nothing.

in the meantime, however, it is a regressive tax because let's face it, low-income folk are more likely to be smokers than middle and upper class (by definition) conformists. they set the standards for participation in society.

addiction to nicotine is insane. i know that its not good, that its quite horrible, in fact. the cancer risk and heart disease, emphysema, etc. and i feel the social stigma and shame, i feel the financial burden, believe me, and yet i find it hard to even summon the desire to actually quit. actually do it once and for all. when i think about quitting i'm filled with dread. but that's addiction right?

the cigarette satisfies immediately... and i suppose that's what we've become accustomed to here in America. we have collectively bought into the notion that we can be satisfied now and pay for it later. only now the bills are starting to come due and unforeseen costs are starting to add up. is that what freedom is about? the freedom to live for today, come what may? or is the better freedom to be able to not buy another pack of smokes for the rest of your life?

i'm not saying that since America is addicted to a number of things, such as cheap and abundant petroleum products for example, i have an excuse to keep smoking. but clearly addiction is complex and defeating it is no simple matter. and you can't begin to defeat it unless you first recognize it. i suppose one good thing w has done is to make it official that we are addicted to oil.

i need to quit once and for all, but its difficult. what is the best way to defeat addiction?

back to measure 50. i don't know, it seems like another band-aid approach to providing funding for health care for children, in this instance, but if it can help me quit (part of the funds go to stop-smoking programs) then maybe its worth it. on the other hand, it might give me another justification to smoke. you know, that warm fuzzy feeling that while satisfying your craving you're also funding healthcare for children. will this let us off the hook? in effect legitimizing smokers as contributing members of society? wishful thinking.

help me quit

on 'fresh air' today

i listen to the radio program 'fresh air' on occasion and today the interviewee was one Bud Krogh, who was a lawyer in the Nixon administration. he recently wrote a book entitled Integrity, and he seems like a wise man. Check out the interview here if you have the time. I really liked how he said that in critical circumstances, you have to trust your gut instinct. Having lived and participated and been indicted and jailed for his actions during the nixon administration, he regretted not having the wherewithal to do the right thing when the situation demanded it.

return of the rain

yes, it seems that summer is over. we've been 'treated' to a fairly intense downpour this evening.

a few notes on junk pop culture.

wife and i went to see Dragon Wars. we went because its the first major motion picture to be released in America that was directed by a Korean director. man what a let down. this was one of the worst movies i've ever seen, which, granted isn't saying much because i haven't seen many movies in general, but it was bad. it was embarrassing. filled with bad acting, a joke of a plot and script, excessive violence and just bad, bad decisions throughout. it was like a really bad b movie, with crazy computer graphics. that was the only good thing about it.

yes, i'll admit, we've been watching the emmys tonight and if you didn't catch it, Sally Field won an award and during her thank you speech, she railed against the war, at which point, Fox promptly censored her.

Colbert and Stewart did a great segment, as only they can do, on the wastefulness of the emmys.

Saturday's forum was good. we went past 1:00 and there were a couple great musical acts which was a nice change, in addition to new speakers. a woman said she would be heading over to the stadium later (during the beaver game) to demonstrate for impeachment. so around 3:30 i headed down there with my guitar to try to find them and just hang out and maybe play some tunes. i didn't see them so started riding back down to the riverfront to try to find people to jam with. i didn't get very far as i came across a man named mike who was collecting cans and bottles, who saw my guitar and practically begged me to play it. i obliged and had a beer with him and his friends. it turns out he recently had his guitar stolen and had a serious jones just to play some licks. he is really good and played some great music. i thought of my old guitar collecting dust and decided to kick it down to mike. why not? so after playing a few tunes and letting his friends all play a little bit, i went home and got the old 'conqueror' (of fingertips) and rode back down and jammed a little more. mike has serious chops, but his buddy greg could hold down pretty good too. he played some blues while i tried soloing a little, which was fun. their other buddy dennis was great too, man i wish i knew how to play 'war pigs' because he had the vocals down pat. turns out dennis was the man who was shot by a low life frat boy whilst dumpster diving. furthermore, dennis is suing the little prick (or the frat?) for $2.7 M! I sure hope he wins and gets a break from living on the streets or wherever.

well, its back to work tomorrow. yippee skippy, as my old boss used to say.

petraeus report

i've been listening to the testimony/questioning this week of general petraeus and don't really have much to say regarding it. i'm not really sure why i bothered to listen, but it really makes you wonder about our cynicism and if perhaps people like the general, the congresspeople and senators really are decent people doing the best they can on behalf of their constituents and not just corporate tools/oligarchical puppets. maybe they are honest people deceived into thinking they are working for the people when in fact they are corporate tools.

i didn't really think about it when i put on my moveon.org t-shirt today, but when it started getting warmer and i took off the sweatshirt, i felt a little funny about it. after work i checked my email, and of course moveon.org sent out an email statement so i clicked on the link for the ad in the nyt that asks general petraeus or general betray us? after looking at it and thinking about it, i don't think there's anything wrong with questioning the integrity of anyone connected with the administration, an administration that used up the last tiny bit of credibility it had long ago. but i do think moveon may have made a tactical mistake in this case. its not going to play well in the mainstream.

one notable snippet is how the general referred to ground troops as 'assets'. i mean yeah, soldiers are assets in a military operation but for chrissake, they're first and foremost people and i was disgusted with referring to them as 'assets' as if they are just so many cogs in the machine. but indeed, that is what they are and what the vast majority of us are. economists regard labor as a unit of the production process. it takes this many units of labor and this many units of capital to produce whatever. bullshit. this needs to change. workers are people, human beings dammit and equally deserving of full consideration as the shareholders, board members and stock traders. soldiers are not just assets, they are sons and daughters, fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters. to describe them as assets is demeaning and dehumanizing. i guess that's why they do it. another reality distorting euphemism like collateral damage.

i think the highlight for me was when a congressman from Hawaii pointed out the war is for oil and i want to further investigate who he is, what exactly he said and what he was talking about because i didn't catch it all.

no end in sight

this is the preview for the documentary mentioned in the previous post. check it out.

m. williamson

a few years ago i read a book of essays compiled by this author about what the world could be like.

tonight i came across this blog entry, which is a few months old but a good read nonetheless. the movie/documentary looks interesting also and i'm surprised i haven't heard of it already.

check it out here, please.

here's to a great week everybody.

corvallis open forum celebrates one year anniversary

the actual one year anniversary was a few weeks ago but we celebrated last night with delicious food, beverage and music making. what a great party!

its funny though. most of the people who came to the party didn't come to the forum today. oh well. it was kind of rough getting up today and getting down there after partying all night.

i wonder if we'll make it another year. i hope so.

more on e=mc^2

from a fwd. from my buddy C. up in Astoria.

it seems like this knowledge is coming from a lot of different angles these days.

thanks for the quote brudda

--
  
"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a
part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts
and feelings, as something separated from the rest a kind of optical
delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for
us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few
persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this
prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living
creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
-Albert Einstein

e=mc^2 changed my life. when i finally realized the simple truth and beauty of this statement
i understood what Einstein is referring to in this quote. We as human beings, flesh and
blood, earth-bound, food cravers, are just another form of energy in this situation we
find ourselves in.  and indeed, the whole set up in the world, 'the way things are'
in this earth, as far as human societies are concerned, is all in our heads. that's why i get
frustrated with people who say 'that's the way it is, has been and always will be',
because they're flat wrong. that may be how it is, but it certainly isn't how it always has
been and there is only our collective consent that allows it to continue to be in the future.

What is 'it' you ask? for starters the basic issue of who slices and how they slice the pie.
The list goes on.

Indeed, our circle of compassion must grow to include everyone and all life on the planet.

fcc public comment

i just have to mention this real quick.
i watched bill moyers again this week and one of his guests was michael copps, a commissioner on the FCC. he's a leading proponent for controlling media ownership. i clicked on the link for the FCC comment page and was flabbergasted. you have to have a part time job just to file a comment. its ridiculous. it wasn't so hard a couple years ago when the issue came up and 3 million people made comments that were 99.9% against allowing for more media consolidation.
sorry i don't have the link, but you'll find it at bill moyers site.

musings

i'm feeling pretty down. the outlook does not seem bright.
i keep on cause i can, i guess, but look at the future increasingly as something to be avoided.
i know its negative thinking but its also science.
my individual and our collective security is increasingly uncertain.
wtf?
its easy to slip into a narcissistic fatalism mode, 'the world is going to hell anyway so why bother, i'm gonna have as much fun as i can while i'm here...' i just hope this time it isn't as long as the last time.
no i'm not there yet, but i just don't know...about life and what its all about. this struggle for money to pay the bills and the mortgage, this struggle for some imagined future utopia, this struggle to shine the light of truth in an ocean of darkness.
who am i to claim to have any modicum of truth?
when will the pendulum of social justice swing back, or is that metaphor completely erroneous to begin with?
we need health care dammit
this is fucking bullshit
why don't we all demand it. i mean, for real, if the 40 million or whatever the number is, of us uninsured Americans just got together and voted for universal health care, we could get it. but the lords of empire are too skilled at dividing and conquering. and i really can't blame the wal-mart slave whose too tired to give a damn about writing an email to his/her congressperson.
but for real, we need to wake up in this country now. you gotta ask yourself, don't i deserve health care as my right as a human being? whose gonna pay for it? you might ask. the elite should pay for it. tax the rich. they've benefited the most while we've suffered, so they should pay for our health care. the truth of the matter is, if us 40 million didn't go to work as an organized union, we could shut this country down. the lowest paid do the most critical work. think about what your life would be like if all the janitors stopped working. talk about a mess. you couldn't live like that. when i was doing entry level construction, digging a ditch, i realized the nobility of manual labor. you can have the fanciest plans in the world, but until someone grabs the shovel and starts moving earth, not a damn thing is going to get built. the people who do the real work, the work where the rubber meets the road, food harvesting, garbage collection, ditch digger, these are the lucky many who change the physical world hopefully for the better. but for some crazy reason we allow the decision makers to make all the money. why? all they do is make a decision. we do the real work. we live in a democracy don't we? and we clearly have the numbers, do we not?
don't get me wrong, i'm not advocating a general strike by any means.
i just think people with low incomes should vote in their own interest and vote for some real change. republicans especially and many democrats as well are bought and paid for by industry and corporate elites, who absolutely, unequivocally do not have our interests in mind. people at the top think they're better than everybody else. the fact is the people at the top are the worst. say what you want about bill and melinda gates, but to continue to support and and bolster an obviously failed system that is unsustainable and unjust is immoral. the elite have created the system to suck the wealth, health and money right on out of the very economy that supports itself. they are primarily responsible for changing it, but unlikely to do so unless by force. hopefully that will be negotiated peacefully and not violently as happened in 1776.

the way forward

whats it going to be?
so many viewpoints
so many conflicting 'facts'
whats a person to do?
one knows how different things could be
one knows how much better things could be
but things just stay the same
things just get worse
endless war and poverty
climate destabilization
whats a person to do?
wage peace they say
i think i do
but is it enough?
write to representatives
i do but apparently our numbers are too few to make a difference
so whats it going to be?
the way forward

enlightenment and the founding of the nation

i watched an innocuous program the other day on opb about free-masonry. referring to the dan brown novel angels and demons and other conspiracy minded viewpoints, the program pointed out the connection of freemasonry and the founding of the nation, as well as the enlightenment period.
i find it sorrowful that we can look at an era in decades past and refer to it as 'the enlightenment' as if it had come and gone. but indeed that is what has happened. we live in a new dark ages in terms of intellectual honesty and integrity, pursuit of truth through reason and logic, and pursuit of happiness in general.
according to this show, these are the values held by the founding fathers. certainly not was it religious dogma. freedom of religion, right?

however, ever since that moment of brilliance in the late 18th century, when the framers and founders framed and founded this country, we continued on more or less the pattern of empire that has gone on since recorded history. today, the USA dominates global trade policies and it enforces the sale of oil in US dollars. petroleum is the lifeblood of 'modern' civilization and we're running out. there is no question that we live in a de facto monarchy these days. when the ruler does what he wants and not what the people want, when the ruler lies and takes the nation to war, that's pretty much a monarchy in my book. when the ruler says he can detain, interrogate, torture and even kill who he wants, when he wants, without a fair trial, that's a monarchy.

people think its about ensuring national security. its destroying the nation. it's rotting the core.

bush is exactly the kind of president the founding fathers anticipated when they included the articles for impeachment in the Constitution.

at least that's how i see it. who am i to say? just one of many.

one year of corvallis open forum

this coming weekend will mark the one year anniversary of the corvallis open forum. we will be in LA and won't be able to be here, though will definitely be in spirit.

corvallis open forum hasn't become a city wide phenomenon, but i feel like we're starting to have a level of legitimacy, as Dan insists we do. the forum is chugging along. attracting new visitors and participants every week, not many people have become regular attendees, but some have.

i think what we're doing is still worthwhile and valuable to the community. i think if more people participated and brought in different perspectives it would make it more interesting.

in a democracy called America, when so much is riding on our votes and our everyday behaviors, as we awaken to the fact that we are all interconnected parts of the larger whole, we must communicate across traditional boundaries and unite in order to have confidence in the future as something to look forward to. that's my opinion.

We provide the space for that communication to occur. we provide a 'new' kind of activity for anyone interested. it doesn't cost anything in terms of money, only time and concern and patience and respect.

The corvallis open forum is changing the world before our very eyes. If we didn't go there every week with our signs, chairs, soapbox, sign up sheet and timer and of course, our intention, there'd just be the tree and the grass and perhaps a few people milling about, but they more likely than not would not be listening to other people speak about something they care about, or speaking themselves about something they find important. I think this is the kind of social change we need in this day and age. Granted we need real leaders and real policies that improve everyone's lives, not just a handful of rich pigs, but we also need to re-connect with each other, and experience the de facto unity of all life.

defazio won't impeach

according to the honorable Peter Defazio, representative to the US Congress, impeachment is not going to happen. He said that its impossible, and that it would completely disallow other bills to be passed. He seemed to be narrowing the scope by talking about impeaching Cheney, he didn't really mention impeaching Bush. He said that if we impeached Cheney, Bush would appoint F. Thompson as new vice president and he would be elected as president and we'd have four more years of 'this' administration. Well what about impeaching them both?

I think Democrats would ensure their re-election by starting impeachment proceedings because they would be putting defending the constitution, protecting it by using it, to restore checks and balances according to the framers' design. so politically speaking its a win win. the people are tired of the bullshit and will support enthusiastically any effort to start cutting through it.

One thing Defazio did not address was the precedent being set. I think he mentioned getting a democrat elected to the white house being the priority in order to eventually investigate, prosecute and convict all of the criminal behavior committed by this administration. He didn't really address what Dennis Kucinich would do with the expanded powers of the executive branch established by the current powerwielders.

I think its simple. The framer's anticipated an over-reach by the executive branch so they gave congress the ability to check the executive. when the congress fails to do what it's supposed to do according to the Constitution, then who knows what the hell is going on. The possibility that our system of government is indeed a cover and facade for the actual powers that be, the 21st century aristo-corporat-military industrial complex, that democratically elected, representative government is failing in America, becomes a little more real. Then what? Whats a patriotic, concerned, citizen to do now?

That answer is also simple. We must unite and organize and do what we can. How? thats not so simple, of course. The greatest power that an average person has, in my opinion is the power of the purchase. We have an opportunity to use that power in a few months, by not exercising it. Here in the blissful warmth of summer, I'm thinking ahead to December, the shortest days of the year, Christmas time, when rather than going out and spending a ton of money for crap that my relatives and loved ones don't really need, I'm going to not shop. So i'm going to have to find another, perhaps more personable and meaningful way to celebrate the season. Don't shop this Christmas and send the powers that be a message, express yourself with the most effective method you have. Don't shop because you want to tell the world that you are protesting the sorry state of the world and the so-called leaders who are responsible. Don't shop and focus on Jesus Christ and what his message was. Love each other as you love yourself. That means see each other as ourselves, that means tearing down the boundaries of class. And 'race', gender, age, ideology, and perhaps even habit.
We need to unite for the common good of all the people of the world.

camping on the coast

We went camping this past weekend. Oswald West state park was our main destination. Suffice it to say, it was awesome. Snagging a campsite was a bit of a chore and my foot was giving me some problems, but the surfing was fun, the area is beautiful (next time i want to do a lot more exploring). Had some really fun jams with my good buddies, and we actually played for a couple audiences who were really cool. We, well, Chris dubbed us the 'minstrel cycles' and we started walking through camp playing and at the next site, they asked us to play, so we played 'off to sea once more' and they liked it and gave us water! then we walked along and the first girl we ran into wanted to hear us play and was saying how she didn't bring her guitar, but she wished she had, and so we went up to her camp and played a few songs. she joined in on a couple. then a guy said they were having a bonfire at the beach so we went down there and sat and played a little bit. People drank a lot of alcohol. we ended up having to drag our fearless leader back from the beach.

the weekend almost ended on a sour note, with rain Sat. night, early sunday morning. but by the time we got up, it had quit and we packed up all our wet stuff and packed everything back up to the cars, which left us time for one more surf session which was great because the crowd had yet to come out, although the waves were a lot smaller. but it was fun and after an hour or so, i'd had enough and we left.

house resolution 676

I'm guessing most of you have already seen this. but if you haven't then click on this link to send a message to your US representatives to tell them to support the bill for universal health care.

The grid has been energized

I learned about FTG only about a week in advance. However, I did my best to spread the word.

The idea and energy behind Fire The Grid were and are exciting to me. I went into it with no expecations and yet, unimaginable expectations. That is, i hoped for a supernatural experience as percieved by my everyday senses, to communicate with the beings that communicate with Shelley, perhaps?, who knows, but didn't want to be too disappointed if nothing happened. Here on the west coast of the US, the time for firing the grid was 4:11am. I was up by 3:50.

I'm not an experienced meditator, but that is how we passed the hour, by meditation. We didn't listen to Bradfield, although I had downloaded it a few days prior. I had a really hard time emptying and "stilling" my mind. I thought about sending positive vibrations and energy into the ground, into the core of the planet. I thought about doubts and fears of what if this collective intention somehow backfires and does damage because we don't really know what we're messing with, and then that those kinds of negative thoughts are the ones that need to be banished. I thought about all the people I know and love. I thought about the oneness of all things, about how we share the same dna as plants. I thought about what could be, if only... I thought about our little project Corvallis Open Forum and whether it could become a part of mainstream culture...interspersed with trying to simply still the mind. I thought about Wayne Dyer and Ilchi Lee and other visionaries like Marianne Williamson and Barbara Marx Hubbard, and whether they were participating. And I wondered what my wife was thinking, or experiencing.

Nothing supernatural happened. I went back to bed after 5:11 sleepy and tired. I didn't feel energized, personally. In fact the whole rest of the week I felt tired. We celebrated a birthday, worked and watched korean tv on the internet as usual. I checked my blog and emailed as usual. I checked the global consciousness project to see if anything registered there, but couldn't find anything. A summer rainstorm settled in for the week.

On the upside, the next day, Sunday, we went to the coast and I caught some the best waves surfing that I ever have. It was perfect being back in the lineup (where the swells just begin to break) riding the rhythm of the ocean, in the primordial element, water, enveloped and yet a distinct part of the great singularity. Yesterdays (7/21) Corvallis Open Forum was well attended and included a number of new speakers, and this year's DaVinci Days festival has been a beautiful, inspiring event.

I'm finally getting around to checking out what has happened since. And whether project cause has been "launched", etc.

I'm very curious to know about other's experience.

I should close by saying that even though my greatest expectations were not met during the fire the grid moment, I'm nevertheless committed to creating a better world, one where everyone has a seat at the table, where everyone is taken care of, as in the tribal mentality that Shelley spoke of. And I realize that its going to take a lot of effort and change for that to happen. I also realize that the mainstream is reluctant to change, especially when it comes to consumption patterns, which i see as a large part of the problem. I am also cognizant of the colossal powers that be and have no illusions that the current rulers of our society have not only the means but also the motivation to crush any kind of people's movement.
Having said this, I believe in our collective capacity for creativity to pull off the necessary changes, the mechanisms, as it were, for the transformation to happen peacefully and quickly.

In peace and solidarity I submit this testimony.

Simultaneous Meditation, Healing

my friend dan sent this along and it looks interesting. if you have a free hour, as i'm sure you do, at 4:11am pacific time (11:11 greenwich mean time) on the 17th of july, then take an hour to contribute to the healing of the planet.

check out the website
http://www.firethegrid.org/eng/home-fr-eng.htm

the way i see it, its kind of like the scam about bill gates giving you 10G for forwarding to everyone on your email list, only its not a scam its positive, possible, and you've got nothing to lose. i do think its possible and as you can tell from my link list, wherein i have linked to the global consciousness project, i'm not coming at this lightly.

what's an hour for real global healing?

lets do it!!

family ties

i received an email from my cousin recently who is also struggling with disgust with the status quo and the challenge of affecting real social change.

i wondered earlier about the mystery of the People's lack of outrage, he replied questioning the existence of democracy and whether people believe it does anymore. indeed, the (il)logic of this blatant fact is readily apparent. i say illogic because to any rational person it doesn't seem logical.

"if there is a democracy, then why would there be a social elite? why would the top 1% of our country control a third of our national wealth, and the top 10% control over 70% of all disposable income? the thing is, to me it all comes down to money..."

Absolutely. it doesn't have to be this way is our point and that of many others. us bottom feeders can simply rise up and claim our slice of the pie, at least for our own healthcare. i'm really interested to see what happens post "sicko".

-

and when people are so busy just trying to make it through another day, they just don't seem to have time, energy, much less the knowledge, to start making some changes - because with each new change comes another period of instability that must one must get used to, at least until it stabilizes.

yes, after working our ass off all day, the last thing we want to do is educate ourselves about the world we live in. if its not tv then its beer, liquor, name your addiction. i think we can minimize the instability by careful, "faith"ful planning. We need to ask ourselves, what are we working so damn hard for?

Cousin goes on to illustrate the seeming impossibility of changing the system without a massive collapse. i think that's why it needs to be a numbers game. it simply won't happen without enough people. but thats going to require a lot of people waking up and smelling the coffee. The movements typified by MLK and Gandhi still represent a positive step, imho.

coincidentally, i'm reading a fantastic book... by howard zinn, a people's history of the united states: 1492 - present, that, if accurate in its accounts, reveals our country's history to be very different from the way it has been taught to us from a young age. much more importantly, though i can't say for certain, not having finished the book, but if our origin is truly different from the way we believed it to be, then the chances of our country functioning like we believe it to be is very slim as well.

first of all, that not a coincidence at all. this book is a milestone in my personal "awakening". and lets face it, you don't just stumble onto h. zinn. i think we're on the right path. if memory serves me, zinn wraps up the book on a very hopeful note, which i hope you'll get to soon. maybe i got this from him, but as long as we have the... hallucination (call it what you will) that the country is founded on the lofty ideals we've been taught, then we still have ground to stand on. Indeed, i think our best bet is to wrap ourselves in the constitution, the declaration of independence and yes, the flag, to create not only a better nation, but a better world.

I'm trying to protect your identity, so i edited alot, but its really good to know we're not alone. thanks for a great email.

sicko

go watch this movie. we just watched it and i think it is high time we have universal, free health care, just like canada, britain, france and yes, cuba.

this is not a new position for me, but hopefully it will be for many many americans.

reclaiming our sovereignty

national initiative for democracy

did a quick net search on mike gravel after seeing him on the pbs debate of a few days ago, and ended up at this project/proposal. i think its a brilliant idea and i hope it works.

check it out.

osu/corvallis nuke

another article from tom

Nevin, K.S., OSU's "Nuke" a Local Cause for Concern, Corvallis
Gazette-Times, 7'3'07.
http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2007/07/03/news/opinion/6edi02_nevin0703.prt 

I've visited the reactor before in a science class. Everyone i've spoke with says "trust me" its very safe. well, i'm no nuclear physicist, so i guess i'll take their word for it. right? WRONG!

its bullshit that insurance companies will not cover damages due to a nuclear incident.

if its so safe then why is our local law enforcement practicing for some such event?

the only absolute guarantee to be safe around this stuff is to shut it down.

i wrote a letter to the barometer many years ago describing how vulnerable the building is to an attack. if you drive by it on 35th you will see what i mean. a couple chainlink fences, one with barbed wire. yeah, like that's going to stop someone with nefarious plans. give me a break. barometer never printed the letter.

anyone know the history of how the reactor came to be?

living so close to the damn thing, i'd absolutely rather it not be there at all. lets get rid of it and put up one of those giant wind turbines. we might not have the greatest wind resource, but we have SOME wind resource that we waste all the time.

and whats the deal with the new energy center?

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right to free speech

some passersby at the forum mentioned that speech calling for the overthrow of the government is not protected by the first amendment, is this true? didn't jefferson say that it is the people's responsibility to create a new government if the present one isn't working on their behalf?

libby granted royal mercy

who am i to question the almighty emperor of the world?

well, for starters i'm a citizen of this country and if this isn't proof positive that the system is broke, that the country is run by a bunch of good ol boys who have a very narrow definition of "we" which certainly doesn't include the lot of us, i don't know what is.

meanwhile, the people who leaked v.plame's identity are still doing their thing. plotting to take over the world. and i'm not exaggerating or kidding. that's precisely what they're doing. i don't blame them. the fact is, the opportunity is theirs for the taking, thanks to a somnabulent population of sheeple and a brainwashed base. but that doesn't make it right. america has become an empire ruled by elites in which there is a guise of democracy. america has veered off course and it is up to We the people to correct our collective course. where is the rule of law?

impeach bush now

michael moore on NOW

the "must see tv" link in my list will take you to the NOW website. this past week, Brancaccio interviewed Moore. This episode is a great example of why i call it must see tv. Moore is brilliant. say what you want about him, but imho, he nails it on the head.

America has a "me" mentality, whereas just about every other civilized nation, the people have a "we" mentality.

i can't wait to see sicko. even if i have to give carmike my money.

bill moyers journal was excellent this week as well.

excellent article for all average joes and janes

http://www.tompaine.com/print/taming_corporations_gone_wild.php

thanks again to tom for the link.

please read this article and do something to express your thoughts.

by posting on my blog i assume my agreement with it is understood.

the following is my comment in response to a series of comments at dan's blog. a person called blamin insists that it is impossible to feed the world using organic farming.

of course we could feed the world organically and less chemically (petroleum) intensively! it can be done and it will be done.

all we need to do is focus our society's energy on replacing the drug of choice, up til now petroleum, with a new drug, a new energy source. or perhaps our original energy source, the sun.

considering the advances in technology that we've seen in just the last twenty years, can you have any doubt that if we tried, as in man-on-the-moon type tried, we could become 100% renewably powered in twenty years? i know we can do it if we try. getting "us" to try is another story.

it seems to me that what we have now are fat cats milking obsolete resources dry and are delaying the inevitable at the public's expense. in terms of energy and in terms of organic farming. i don't blame them, the fat cats, that is. i mean afterall, they have the implicit consent of a frantic, paranoid, sleazy, cheesy, shopaholic, clueless population of the governed. and they have the ability. wouldn't you do the same? freedom for everyone, especially the ones with the most money and power to forever increase their share of the money and power!
(yes i'm being sarcastic)

is there any argument that industry lobbyists literally write legislation (ie, how to grab taxpayer money and/or re-write the laws to benefit them and their friends) in our US Congress?


blamin, we can try, indeed. i totally agree that having all the answers is not a worthy goal for me, or society. but we have to sort the wheat from the chaff. we must decide for ourselves as a society, many issues of immediate consequence in countless lives around the world. i don't grant the bush administration one ounce of credibility. the great w, bush II, emperor of babylon, why should i? after being lied to so many times, there comes a point that you don't take seriously anything that comes out of his mouth.

how can peace overcome war?

or perhaps more appropriately, how can the peace movement overcome the war establishment? the peace movement is a relatively dispersed diaspora whereas the war establishment is just that, firmly established in the world, in terms of infrastructure: buildings, plants, equipment, weapons, and of course the personnel and money. how many people's livelihoods does it really support?

but more in general, how does a non-violent society prevail over a violent one? its no surprise what the result will be when a conflict becomes escalated. the violent become violent and people die. the fact that the peace movement even exists is a victory worth celebrating considering the history of our great nation!

of course our strength lies in our numbers. i'd like to see a poll of americans who actually love war. who relish and delight in death, pain and misery.

war doesn't just happen. in this day and age, one person's decision can set into motion a mighty army of cabinet appointees, generals, lawyers, corporate executives and their legions, and an army of volunteer patriot soldiers who seem to be getting tricked into thinking that their sacrifice will guarantee membership in the club, or at the very least the best healthcare that the richest nation in the world is capable of.

thinking in terms of the eons that have passed in which humans have slaughtered each other, do we really have any hope of creating a lasting peace? sure, why not? having hope is as simple a choice you can make, either you decide to have it or you don't. but i really feel that considering all that people have thought up, in terms of technology and democracy, in particular, there is every reason to expect that humanity can begin an age in which war ceases to exist. we have proven ourselves to be a very capable species. lets focus now.

first solar dish of the season

well, its that time again folks! time to break out the solar oven and use the sun's rays to cook. since the solar oven is essentially a low(ish) temperature slow cooker, we're making chili (again). i keep saying one of these days i'll bake something, but so far it hasn't happened yet. i better go out and see if the angle is right.

maybe i'll even post a picture if i'm really industrious!

gas prices

last i saw, and i'm sure all of you are award, a gallon of regular unleaded is going for around $3.30
my last fill up set a new record of ~$40.
however, as much as is pains me to have to buy gas, i have mixed feelings about it. on the one hand, the big oil companies report record profits every quarter! clearly, they are making a killing by jacking up prices on us, the consumer. its obscene, grotesque and outrageous.

on the other hand, we still aren't paying nearly the true cost of a gallon of gas. our government subsidizes the oil companies, directly and indirectly, such as not charging for royalties that anyone with a brain knows are rightfully owed to the taxpayers. furthermore, there are the externalities of resource wars, climate change, and pollution that are incurred everytime we fill up, but we pass the cost on to future generations.

if oil executives weren't making record profits, i don't think i'd mind the high prices. in other words, if the price at the pump reflected the true cost of oil "production" and consumption, i wouldn't be so apt to complain about paying more, but would still try to reduce my demand for the good. which is another dilemma, because the more people reduce their demand for oil, the more the price will likely fall, encouraging the real gas guzzlers in society who don't give a damn, more ability to continue on guzzling.

doom and gloom at the cof

people are convinced that civilization is close to a crash at the cof. i'm not hearing any good solutions, other than to re-localize. i have to agree, that things don't look very encouraging at this point in time, but (again) i still cling to hope. what do i mean by that? i mean, i believe that humans are not only capable of a paradigm shift but are also not far from it, and that change can lead to a world presently unimaginable.

its just another choice, my belief in these possibilities. i know the odds aren't really in our favor, but what is the option? to believe in a future where the usa continues on being a totalitarian empire, subjugating the people of the world and taking their resources, creating endless wars and genocide, polluting the biosphere and driving its species into extinction and finally a dismal and meaningless end scenario in which the us nukes all other people and itself off the planet effectively ending all life except for cockroaches and bacteria and a bunker full of republicans? The fact is no one knows absolutely what the future holds. indeed by definition the future is only possibilities.

how do we steer the juggernaut around? how do we change it? how do we change it non-violently? we have the capability, all we have to do is discover it.

why the usa is #1

a friend of mine passed this article around and i thought i'd share it here. the only way to change this juggernaut of excessive death is by the People. its time to wake up.

Thanks Tom and thank you Frida

Berrigan, F., We're #1, TomDispatch.com, 5/20/07.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/indexprint.mhtml?pid=196017

keep witham wild

i just recieved an email describing the effort to save witham oaks.

check out the website www.keepwithamwild.net

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We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love
(and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list.

nina's questions for all

my blogging buddy nina posed the following questions

1) what kind of a world do you wish to see?
2) what kind of a government do you wish to see?
3) what do you value?
4) what would you like to see change?
5) what steps are you willing to take to make these changes?
6) what are you willing to risk (if anything)?

i'm going to attempt an abbreviated version, but these are some serious questions. essential questions that everyone needs to establish for themselves in a democracy.

1) i wish to see a world where people learn to live together so beautifully and interactively that population centers actually grow more dense and natural ecosystems are restored. i wish for the world to begin to purify itself and process centuries of waste. i wish to see a world where most people don't suffer most of the time. i wish for a great awakening event which starts a new era for humanity, one of untold possibilities.

2)i wish to see a government that does what its supposed to do. that is, protect the people and the environment, provide for education, food and housing, transportation and create a situation where everyone can be who they are, divine creations in the universe.

3)i value good food. thoughtful arguments. i value peace, joy and love, understanding, hope, patience, quality, beauty, nature, people, diversity, logic and reason as well as emotion. i value the almighty dollar for what it is, the means of exchange in our society, but i also value our local currency, the hour. i value truth, justice and liberty, fairness, kindness and honesty.
theres more, but i'll move on.

4)the change i would like to see is a revolt against isolation by a reconvergence. i would like to see people just gather, like the be-ins of the late 60s. the change i would like to see is a crash in the stock market but ordinary people living fine. the change i would like to see is replacing the profit motive in capitalism with sustainability. the change i would like to see is working people organizing and demanding their fair share and making food shelter and clothing, health care and education universal human rights. i want to see the culture of money and power grabbing suddenly stop and become one of generosity and giving.

5)i'm willing to take any steps necessary to make these changes, but it won't happen because of one person, it seems like an all or nothing situation. but i'm willing to take any steps, honestly, that don't jepoardize my job, or my relationship with my wife. yes, i am a slave to the system. which leads into

6)yes, i don't think i want to risk my job or my wife for any social change. i would hope that my job and my family would encourage me to do something for change and they do, but in the event that it was one or the other, the argument would have to be pretty darn convincing.

great questions nina, i'm going to post this on my blog.

The war is all about oil and profit for 21st century kings and queens

Well, they finally made it explicit. They finally "admitted" the generally understood reason for being there. My question to you family, is are you willing to sit quietly while the government sacrifices American lives for your petroleum addiction? My answer is clearly no. We must make this point known. Now is a time to raise our voices. Please read this article and help put an end to the American war machine once and for all.

Tim

ps thanks d.crall for the link

Kucinich Reveals Dem Funding Bill Includes Privatization of Iraq Oil & Carte Blanche to Invade Iran By June Caldwell, American Chronicle, May 6, 2007 http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=26308

In a meeting with the West Los Angeles Democratic Club on Saturday, May 5, Presidential candidate and Ohio Congress Representative Dennis Kucinich revealed that the Democrats in Congress had made some secret concessions to the Republicans in the initial Bill to continue funding the Iraq War that was vetoed, and in a subsequent version that is currently being negotiated. They include:

>Privatization of Iraq's Oil – in the original Bill, but not shared with the public. A rule was created that said this clause could not be removed during debate on House floor.

>Bush could invade Iran without approval of Congress. A clause that would require him to get approval from Congress first was removed.

>Timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq to be removed from Bill (in post-veto version).

The clause that Iraq must privatize ownership of its oil was in the original Bill presented by Congress, although it was not mentioned publicly. It was stated as a benchmark to be met by Iraq, and if it was not met, the US would withdraw troops and refuse to offer peacekeeping troops to help rebuild the country. That means the Iraqis would not own their own oil, but instead International oil companies, primarily US oil companies, would instead divide ownership of the oil.

This seems to reaffirm the worst possible scenario that the war in Iraq not only was built upon lies, but was solely for the purpose of destroying their country so the big US oil companies can own their oil. These same oil companies are still resolute about keeping the oil prices high at the pumps for US citizens (while refraining refinery capacity), so that they alone retain record-breaking profits. Kucinich explained he requested on the Congress floor that clause be removed from the Bill, and was finally assured it would be. He found it was not, and again demanded it be removed, and was then accused of 'not being a loyal Democrat'.

Kucinich went on to explain that last November, the citizens of the US voted for a 'change of direction in Iraq' but as of yet have only gotten a bait and switch.

Tim Kijoo Nam
Corvallis, OR
tkn317071@yahoo.com
http://timsbloggo.blogspot.com/
"We are discussing no small matter, but how we ought to live." -Socrates

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Check out new cars at Yahoo! Autos.

update

happy may day! thanks to everyone who made may day happen again this year! it seems like there is a lot of change happening with may day, but i feel like at its core, its really all about one love and thats what im about, so carry on party people!

and happy may day to all the noble workers of the world! I salute you brothers and sisters of the hard work for least pay. We do the work where the rubber meets the road. Without us, nothing happens, all you have are rich people sitting in banks and architects drawing lines on paper. Without us, things don't get put together into products, without us places go to shit! literally!

Speaking of workers, I went for a bike ride yesterday and had my walkman radio on and i heard this guy rick steves, who does travel shows for pbs, on the radio interviewing another guy, advocating for more vacation time. "what is the economy for?" he asks. i'm going to link to their page. he wrote a book called affluenza, i think. John Degraf is his name, www.timeday.org


the forum went well. much better than the drizzly previous week. it started out slow, but picked up momentum as people spoke. I have to miss next weeks, though. The JATC has a mandatory seminar up in Salem.

life goes on

liberty

Liberty is the combination of freedom and responsibility. Alone, freedom allows people to harm each other for their own gain. Only when you join freedom to right action do you produce a just society. Without justice, freedom is worthless. To understand that you are not alone is the first step on the path. Either we are all in this together, or we're not.

I just came upon this blog which had the above as the subtitle, or about the blog part. brilliant.

my letter to robert greenwald of brave new films

hi Robert,

Thanks for your email. I don't utube...yet. I think I need a faster computer. But it sounds cool, what you've been up to. So I just wanted to make two suggestions, make that three. one is: what really happened on 9-11? two is: why isn't the government supporting renewable energy more? and three: is our preparation/plan for global peak oil really going to be endless resource wars and armageddon?

back to work

after two weeks of temporary laying off, i'm returning to work today. its nice that i didn't have to get up at the butt-crack of dawn, though. i went to see an ear-nose-throat dr. this morning for an ingrown hair in my nose. thats a lot of fun, believe me! wouldn't you know it, the swelling had subsided and he couldn't find it, so i spent $30 for the co-pay for a prescription and a nose hair trim. what are you going to do? maybe it won't re-occur this time, knock on wood.

well, i don't know if i'll be able to keep up the blogging activity but i'll try. i'll definitely be at the forum unless something big comes up.

be well beloved readers

America at a Crossroads

I've been watching this series on OPB this week. Though I take it with a grain of salt (CPB's reputation is weakening as is every other government agency under Bush and Co.), I have to say that so far it has been very interesting to watch. Last night they had a piece on Richard Perle and why he thinks the war was a good idea. The best part was when talking to protestors one woman called him a wmd. I have to give him credit for going out there and meeting the protestors face to face. However, I did not find any of his arguments compelling.

how to pre-empt mass shootings

For those of you who watch the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, you know that last night they devoted the entire hour to coverage and analysis of the VTech shooting. One segment had two experts on the criminal mind. Here is the opening introduction:

JEFFREY BROWN: We turn to Stanton Samenow, a clinical psychologist based in Alexandria, Virginia. He's the author of "Inside the Criminal Mind." And Paul Viollis, he's CEO of Risk Control Strategies, which provides security consulting for corporations and educational institutions. He's the author of "Avoiding Violence in our Schools."

Check out the transcript or view the clip here. I haven't read these books, but both experts gave testimony to the fact that in these types of cases, the perpetrator has certain defining characteristics. For example,

PAUL VIOLLIS: Typically, this type of person is someone that's found as a loner, more or less the quintessential outsider, someone that's never accepted, someone who has a difficulty accepting criticism.

This person finds himself in a position where he's constantly searching for attention, constantly searching for inner control. And if it escalates to the extent that he cannot find that, it builds to a sense of powerlessness. And when that happens, typically violence is imminent.

And from Samenow, "They do have unrealistic expectations of other people. They have this all-or-nothing thinking, but that is not mental illness."

So it seems to me, that this is somewhat systemic, in that, the perpetrator goes down a downward spiral, with behaviors that reinforce each turn. Say you are this person who is an outsider, never accepted, etc. But then some kind hearted soul reaches out to you and tries to be friends. But unbeknownst to you, you have unrealistic expectations of this kind friend, and the first time they cross you (whether real or imagined/misunderstood), you respond with exaggerated anger and perhaps even violence. Well, how is the friend going to react? I know if I were in those shoes, I would get freaked out and probably not want to be friends anymore. Indeed, I would probably warn others to stay away from "you" because I think you have a screw loose. Thus, the downward spiral. Isolation and erratic behavior beget more isolation and desperation.

I think we need to develop the response-ability to recognize these situations and stop the downward spiral. How to do that? Well, I think it has to start with our hypothetical friend. The friend needs to first recognize that unrealistic expectations were held, and then not give up on "you" so quickly. Somehow, explain that sometimes things don't go exactly as we'd like them to, but that doesn't mean the end of the world, or relationship or whatever. This is definitely the tricky part.

My two cents.

test

is it possible for me to write an email that automatically posts on my blog?


Tim Kijoo Nam
Corvallis, OR
tkn317071@yahoo.com
http://timsbloggo.blogspot.com/
"We are discussing no small matter, but how we ought to live." -Socrates

---

Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell?
Check out new cars at Yahoo! Autos.

Imus be missing somting?

My buddy Dan argued this weekend that Imus is not a racist, or that his comment wasn't racist. Here is my reply via email and this blog.

I've been thinking about this some, and Imus' comment seems racist to me. It seems that he (wrongly) assumed that he could get away with making an extremely derrogatory statement about african-american women b-ballers...because he's a rich white guy, indeed, a regular good-ol-boy. If that kind of thinking doesn't reflect and support an underlying feeling of superiority, then I'm not sure what does. If he wasn't fired, then the fact that he said what he said and got away with it would've meant that its okay for a rich white guy to publicly demean black people who've been systematically and institutionally oppressed for hundreds of years. He didn't violate anyone's civil rights perse, but he did cross the line and vocalize a put-down of black women, which incrementally bolsters the still-alive-and-well (as you know and I know) system of thought that says white people are better than black people, brown people, red people and yellow people.

so what if a black person said that about a white team? say, something like blond-headed whores, If Chris Rock came out and called some white women's basketball team a bunch of blonde headed hookers, would that be percieved as racist?

I understand about PCness run amok, but I don't think this is one of those cases. And as Tina mentioned, it was the market that ultimately "punished" Imus. Is this a kind of mob mentality? perhaps, but it seems a lot better than the kinds of mobs that ruled in some of the southern parts of this country.

Explain yourself man.

P.S. I'm gonna post this on my blog.

KIVA

I was inspired the other night when I saw Frontline World. They did a story on the micro-credit outfit Kiva, which connects relatively well-off folks with people who need micro-loans in other countries, via the internet. So now, I'm investing in Ivan Salinas' business, which is in Baba, Ecuador. What a great thing. Thank you Kiva! Go for it Ivan!

KBOO listeners in Corvallis

I've been tuned in to KBOO this morning and wanted to put this out here.
Let me start by saying I think KBOO is great, it airs the programming that OPB fails to air. Of course, KBOO is a Portland entity, first and foremost. I've often felt that while I support KBOO financially, I'm not really a member of the KBOO community. One reason for this is that the signal here in Corvallis is often prone to interference. Most of the time that I tune in there is static and interference from other stations. I've asked our local KBOO guru, Michael Papadopolos about this and he seemed to not know what I was talking about. My question to you is, do you listen to KBOO and if you do how has your reception been? If your experience has been like mine...you wish something could be done to boost the 100.7 frequency...lets organize. I'm thinking about a mid-valley campaign to provide more power to the KBOO transmitter with solar and wind power. Whaddya say?

RIP Kurt Vonnegut

When I saw Kurt Vonnegut awhile back on NOW (the weekly PBS show I consider must see tv) he didn't seem well. He was very skeptical of our chances as a species to get our act together which made me want to try even more. I have yet to read his latest book, Man Without a Country, but hope to soon.

Kurt Vonnegut's writing changed me for the better. I'm still grateful to Ms. Martinez, my 10th grade English teacher, who included his book Cat's Cradle in a reading list for us to choose from. Somehow I chose that book and it opened my eyes to a greater vision of the world, how it is and how it can be. His writing was so creative and different that it suggested new possibilities to me. For a few years after that, he was the only author I read. I consumed his books voraciously though I fell short of reading all of them.

Now Kurt Vonnegut's spirit has returned to the Source and though just a humble fan, I will miss him. Thank you Mr. Vonnegut for opening my eyes and my mind.

shout outs

This is another piece I wrote to say at the forum awhile back.

What a great day to be alive and kicking in the world as we know it.
So as you may or may not know, the forum here was created to be an outlet for your voices. That means anyone who is within earshot or anyone who actually cares.

I’d like to give a few shout outs today

To the mass consumers: do you really need that? And you know, I still have to insist that it doesn’t matter what kind of clothes you wear, or what your hair looks like, what you smell like, or how you get around, it doesn’t matter to me. I know it does to you but that is pure fiction. I hate to burst your bubble but What I’m interested in is what’s in your mind and in your heart.
To the media: keep trying
To the ruling class: the sooner you learn to share, the better off we’ll all be. The future will either be sustainable or it will cease to exist for humankind. To be clear, that means peace not war, that means equality of every person’s right to exist, that means justice for all and restoring and conserving natural systems not raping and pillaging them. Enough is enough.

To family: thank you
To my allies: thank you
To my enemies: I love you and wish for you the warm embrace of God.

To the people who say you can’t change things. You’re wrong. Because as you can see, change is happening. Simply by deciding that a place can exist for public speaking and meaningful expression, one exists. What kind of world could we create if we all simply made different, more co-creative decisions? It really boggles the mind.

To the people who say why bother? Because we’re here goddamit! We’re here and we can… I don’t need any higher purpose than that. If you don’t think we are capable of improvement then must you drag everyone else down with you?

American Fascists ala Chris Hedges

These are some thoughts I wrote down for the forum a few weeks ago. They refer to an article and speech by Chris Hedges. I heard the speech on Alternative Radio then I got on the web and found the article.

What Chris Hedges speech and article illustrate so clearly for me is that American terrorists are being indoctrinated even as we speak. Taking Hedges at his word, Fundamentalist Christianity is no different than Fundamentalist Islam except for the vastly superior economic and technological abilities, and world-superpower status. These terrorists hate people like us and would prefer our extinction. Perhaps coincidentally or not, these are also the same people supporting the war on terror. Taking Hedges at his word, This is a serious problem we need to recognize and deal with before its too late.

Is Hedges exaggerating the problem? What is the real number of people who believe violence is a good thing to perpetrate on non-believers? What are the real parallels between pre-Nazi Germany and now? How do you affect someone who wants to see you dead?

We need to be waging the war on terrorism, it is We The People who need to get to the root of the terrorism problem. We are the only ones who can. I don’t think we can bomb terrorism off the planet. I don’t think we can neighborhood patrol terrorism off the planet. This is truly a matter of personal belief and conviction. Terrorism grows out of religion. Those of us whose hesitation is heard as silence and then implicitly agreement, must regain our voice.

See, I believe that most people are decent and well-meaning. I believe the consensus is to follow the golden rule. Most people don’t go to such extremes. The problem is the numbers that do are increasing. The solution is for the center to pull back on the extremist views, especially when those views are held and acted upon by the leaders of our country..

forum update

well, the forum has been in existence every week since it began. Its tough to get people when your time and place are always changing. I think the only thing we have to go on, other than the strength of the idea itself, is consistency...well I take that back there are probably other things to go on, but I can't think of them at the moment.

Last weeks was a low point, to be perfectly honest. In leiu of the no-more-war march, time change at Sunnyside, and other folks not being there for whatever reason, the COF didn't really happen.

Suffice it to say that I've noticed a slight concern about its longterm survival creeping up every once in awhile. Perhaps a meeting is in order?

hollah

still here again

apparently some people do read my blog.

Here's what I just wrote in an OSPIRG letter to state legislators...(I think?)

Blogging is a lot of work. I salute those of you who find/have the time!

I urge you to support the Renewable Energy Standard, Senate Bill 838.

In my humble opinion, supporting renewable energy in general, and this standard, to be more specific, is a no-brainer. In terms of monetary investment, renewable energy will pay for itself many times over.

Indeed, I don't see why Oregon couldn't be an exporter of energy, bringing in cash flow; instead of importing it, draining our economy, as it does today. Only, instead of that income being channelled into relatively few coffers, with renewable energy production, it will be flowing into the people's coffers. Average homeowners like you and I.

Imagine a million solar roofs being like the trickles and rivulets of water which converge into rivers which we already capture with hydropower. Only with solar, it makes sense to widely distribute the point of collection.

Recognizing a limitation of solarpower and other REs, that of the variability of the sun, lends the opportunity for the next step, namely hydrogen. With the solar "river" of energy generated, hydrogen generation could be coupled to create a form of energy more dense and transportable, indeed a flow of hydrogen.

The energy system of the 21st century is sitting right there, I can see it, but we need to invest in it to make it a reality. The People need to decide that its worth investing in, and I'm one citizen who is letting you know that I affirm that our society should invest and invest heavily in renewable energy and hydrogen. By positioning ourselves now, this is the ground floor right now people, we can create and enjoy *clean* energy abundance in the future.

Thanks

report to wrench about the forum

The first ever Corvallis Open Forum was a success, thanks in large part to members of wrench. Thanks for showing up and speaking.

Granted, the numbers were small (~15), but people were respectful and it wasn't boring. We will be there again this coming Sat. from 1-2, possibly longer. (Riverfront Park close to the fountain. We are asking the parks department for permission to move to a shadier spot.)

So here's my synopsis.

I spoke first, about why the forum, what I'm curious about, that kind of thing. Dan was next with a heartfelt rendition of a dreadfully sorrowful tune on the accordian. Then people started expressing their political views and after the lone republican spoke, a back-and-forth happened, between the republican and everyone else. In other words, mr. republican sustained a barrage of questions from the crowd and deflected them by reason of not having enough time.

Which reminds me, for those who were there, but didn't fill out a questionaire, is three minutes good, too long or too short? Any other suggestions, comments?

Anyways, I don't know if I can make it for pizza and beer this week, but I'll try if its on.

Tim

pfb post forum briefing

the first forum was a success. Not an overwhelming success, but a success nonetheless.
We pulled it off. We didn't sink, bog down and no one got hurt.
A few people other than the organizers showed up, the majority of which were members of wrench. I counted at least 12-15 total. Anyways, the group is psyched and ready to invite more members of the community for next week.

There was one fellow who introduced himself as a conservative republican. It seemed to me that the others lobbed a few too many questions at this brave fellow, but everyone was respectful and it seemed like everyone who wanted to speak was able to speak.

corvallis open forum

My speech for the forum due to launch on au19 2006 in corvallis, or:
Actually, I haven't timed this version, so if its not under three minutes I'll have to edit or speak more quickly.

Greetings fellow citizens of the world, neighbors, friends and family,
Hi, I’m T, one of the organizers of this space.
Thank you for your attention and for being here for something experimental.
So, what are we doing here?

Well, a problem as I see it, is that there is a severe lack of civil discourse in the culture of America. This nation was founded from a culture of town hall meetings, congresses, conventions and otherwise real democracy where real debate occurred. And from the increased number of viewpoints being suggested, truly great ideas emerged. E Pluribus Unum. From Multitudes, One. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Today we’ve become of culture of closeted bloggers and choir members and preachers; we stay in our respective camps, we’re so polarized we’re coming full circle on some issues. But that’s not counting the legions of completely apathetic folk, of course, you know, the people lost in tv land (I know because I used to be one).

Too long have we accepted the notion that the two subjects one should never discuss in society are religion and politics. There are no more important subjects to discuss especially with people with a different viewpoint. We need to get back to the roots of our Nation to deal with the problems of the 21st century and take democracy to the next level.

Now, if the idea of a civilized, open, public forum intrigues you, realize that all it really takes is an audience of participants. And that audience will here every week until it starts raining at which point we’ll find an indoor location. I for one, hopefully among others, or unless I get gunned down, will be here to listen to what you have to say regarding your view of the world, whatever that may be. Be forewarned that I may not agree with you but I will do my best to express my views as respectfully and honestly as I can.

What is a problem as you see it? What should be done about it?
What is real? What is illusion?
Who are you? What is your story? I don’t care how low or how high you are on the supposed ladder of success, and I don’t care what you look like. I believe we’re all the children of God, worthy of respect, and call me what you will, but I want to know. And I have a hunch that you have a lot to say. Furthermore, I suspect that we have much more in common than we’ve ever experienced.

And I hope to meet you, hear you, and debate ideas with you very soon.

Thanks again for your attention.
With that, I humbly yield the box

renewable energy

I’m against nuclear energy. I’m against creating hazards that last for many millennia and that require the most advanced technologies to manage. I think there are other, safer ways to create energy. Take solar energy for example. People say solar isn’t worth it in Oregon. I say it is. The more we invest in solar energy here, the closer we are to becoming net exporters of energy. Don’t think about the rain in the winter, that’s what micro hydro power is about, think about all the sun in the summer. We get a fair share, believe me. Right now, we just use it to heat up our roofs, making us get air conditioning and use more energy. We’re wasting a valuable resource, the light from the sun, by leaving our rooftops bare.

To be sure, it is a significant investment, especially for a single household, but we’re investing in so much more than electrical power. An investment in renewable energy supports the natural world, homeland security, the local economy, the health of citizens, and of course, manufacturers of renewable energy technologies, a business we should think about getting going here. The ONLY harm it causes is to the big power producers, the giants, the titans of industry, and don’t you think they have enough already? And don’t bring up the stockholders, unless we do an actual head count of all the people vs. all the people who own shares in Megagiantconglomerate money sucking corporation.

Am I wrong?


It’s not like we’re saying everyone should own a Cadillac power supply. Its more like saying everyone should own a pickup truck that gets the gas milage of a Toyota prius. Something useful and efficient. And if that takes public support at this time, then the side benefits make it worth it.

Well money’s tight, I understand. Especially with all the sacrificing we’ve been doing to support our men and women overseas. If we want our troops home, we should tell the government/military/industrial complex that we don’t need cheap oil. We should cut demand. All antiwar people should start synchronizing and systematically reducing petroleum consumption. Ride a bike to save the life of an American GI.