Heading South

When my wife and I realized our dream of living closer to the ocean -- by moving to Aberdeen & Grays Harbor County in December 2005 -- we thought we had set down permanent roots. We didn't expect to move to a different community. However, the rhythms of Tao don't always flow in the direction one expects!

This Friday we will close on a our new home in South Bend, the county seat of Pacific County. While the Aberdeen area is small by urban standards, it's a metropolis compared to South Bend. More people reside in the Aberdeen-Hoquiam-Cosmopolis area (about 26,000) than in the entire 600 square miles of Pacific County (21,000). South Bend has 1,800 residents and no stoplights.

Over the next month or so -- after we get this move finished -- I'll tell you about our ordeal in trying to find a home to purchase and why we ended up buying a home 27 miles south of Aberdeen. For now, you'll just need to Google "Pacific County".

When Encountering a Bear, Your Silence Will Not Protect You

If you're out hiking in the wilderness and you encounter a bear at a close range, wildlife experts have a few words of advice for you. First, avoid direct eye contact with the bear as this might elicit a charge. Second, make yourself seem larger than you are by waving your arms or, if wearing a coat or jacket, pull the sides of the garment to the fullest extent on each side. Third, make a lot of noise by talking and yelling -- In this instance, your silence will not protect you. Fourth, if the bear attacks you, fight back aggressively. Finally, do NOT run from the bear as this will cause it to chase you and bears are a lot faster than you might think.

While pondering this information the other day, it dawned on me that this guide describes the current political landscape in our dear nation very well. In essence, the entire country has become a vast ideological wilderness. The Bush administration is a giant bear and the Democratic-controlled Congress represents a team of intrepid hikers.

These hikers keep running into the beast and they aren't following the advice of experts. Every time the bear bluffs a charge, they take off running, ceding more and more territory to the bear. After awhile, they stand their ground timidly and make a little noise, only to take off running again. In time, the bear will corner them and, when that happens, there won't be many options left.

Coming at this scenario from a different direction, we can also liken the American public to the hikers. We too keep crossing paths with the bear. Far too many of us -- like our elected representatives -- aren't heeding the tried and true advice of wildlife experts. We stand before the bear frozen in fear, arguing about what to do next. Instead of making ourselves appear as large as we truly are, we hunker down so as to appear smaller. Instead of screaming and yelling, some talk in a normal tone, while others whisper. And, far too many of us are ready to run at the first hint of danger.

The bear has become more and more emboldened because of our conjoined silence. If we ever hope to scare the bear away, we as a group must find the courage to yell and scream at the top of our lungs at this hairy beast. At that point, the bear may well realize that we're too great of an adversary and decide he will be better served to go off and eat berries.

As our nation is under assault by forces from within; silence will not protect us.

If I Was Running for President in '08

If I was running for the office of President of the United States, my campaign platform would look far different than the ones being touted by the many candidates vying for the Democratic and Republican Party nominations. Here are some of the planks.

• Immediate withdrawal of US troops from both Afghanistan & Iraq.

• I'd go to the United Nations, with hat in hand, to apologize for US-led aggression and work with the nations of the world to place a team of peacekeepers in both countries. The US, of course, would supply troops for both missions, BUT they would be under the control of the UN, not the US.

• I would work with Congressional leaders to develop a reparations package to both nations to aid in reconstructing their countries.
  

• I would go before the UN and the citizens of the US to declare that our nation does not believe in preemptive military aggression nor the use of torture.

• I would immediately shut down Gitmo and send all prisoners currently held there to federal prisons. I would provide each prisoner will full access to legal counsel, including the release of information as to why each person was arrested in the first place.

• I would also immediately shut down the School of the Americas in Athens, Georgia and pardon anyone who was/had been charged with a crime for protesting at the site.

• I would submit a budget to Congress that reduced military spending by 25% and would use some of the savings to establish a cabinet-level Department of Peace.

• I would scuttle the Department of Homeland Security.

• I would work with Congressional leaders to introduce legislation to broaden the Endangered Species Act, develop universal health care, end all subsidies to the oil and nuclear power industries and use these savings to better fund research into alternative energy sources.

• I would promote the use of Instant Runoff Voting and would encourage states to move away from paperless electronic voting systems.

• I would encourage Congress to repeal the No Child Left Behind Act and NAFTA.

These are but a few of the planks of what my platform might be. What would your platform look like?

Heaven Is A Place On Earth

In this world we're just beginning
To understand the miracle of living
Baby I was afraid before
But I'm not afraid anymore

Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth?
Ooh heaven is a place on earth
They say in heaven love comes first
We'll make heaven a place on earth
~from "Heaven Is A Place On Earth"~

If you read a description of socialism penned by conservatives -- particularly conservative Christians -- you quickly get the idea that it would represent the kind of society few would want to live in. They characterize it as life where the many take from the few and this is all accomplished through the brutality of the state.

I've always found this critique to be both laughable and ironic. The irony is that the socialist society envisioned by Karl Marx closely resembles the fundamentalist view of the Christian heaven. It is a place where all basic needs are met, everyone lives in harmony -- no war or crime -- and people are afforded the opportunity to develop their love for beauty and poetry.

In other words, it's a world view based on cooperation and community which is in direct opposition to our current society which focuses on competition and individualism.

Since both the Christian heaven and socialist ideology appear to embrace the same concepts, why are today's conservatives so dead set against the latter?

The answer is tied up in the neurotic nature of competition.

Competition is predicated on the idea of winners and losers. If one person or group is to be victorious, then another person or group must be vanquished. The embracers of competition don't want all boats to be raised at the same time, only the "worthy" ones and, of course, they have a very narrow definition of what is or is not worthy.

So, while heaven and socialistic society seem to share common themes, there is one crucial difference: in socialism, the utopian paradise applies across the board, while, in heaven, it ONLY applies to the chosen few -- the true believers.

Consequently, the truth of the matter is that conservatives are terrified of a socialistic society precisely because it applies to each and every person equally. If it could be attained in human society, it might well turn throngs of people away from religion as we would each be able to see that heaven could be a place on earth.

Terrorism -- In the Eye of the Beholder

Pick up a newspaper in the United States and it's very obvious who the "terrorists" are. It's those radical Islamic zealots!

Pick up a newspaper in the Arab world and it's very obvious who the "terrorists" are. It's those soldiers, predominantly from the United States!

That's one of the key problems with the word, terrorist. It's always aimed at the folks on the other side of the equation. No nation looks at the terror they may be responsible for; it's always the "other guy" who gets slapped with that highly emotive label. Heck, the folks on your side are freedom fighters!

We're all so used to hearing or reading the word "terrorist" that we often forget that it's not a word that was used much before the latter half of the twentieth century. It's certainly NOT the kind of word you see used in terms of the American Revolution.

If it had been used during that time, our founding fathers are the ones it would have been used in reference to.

The British occupying forces had superior firepower and numbers in comparison with General Washington and his rag-tag army. The English had professional soldiers who had honed their teeth on wars in the European theater.

Faced with these kinds of obstacles, the new Americans knew they couldn't follow the standard military protocol of the day by lining up face-to-face with their adversaries. Too many battles like this would mean the end of the American dream of independence.

So, what did they do? They employed a new military strategy -- guerilla warfare. They'd take a few potshots from the woods, picking off a few of his majesties finest, and then disappear back from whence they came.

From what I've read, after awhile, this tactic terrorized the British army. They never knew when or where the next shot would come from. Consequently, if the word "terrorist was used back then, I'm sure the English press would slapped this label on the American Minutemen.

Another group who most assuredly would have called the Americans terrorists is the various native people who resided on the their/our lovely territory. There are numerous examples of the US Cavalry swooping into an Indian settlement and shooting anything that moved (e.g., Custer's slaughter of unarmed Indians on the Washita River).

Not only did the soldiers gun down woman and children, but they burned villages to the ground, slaughtered thousands of bison and destroyed crops. Like the current Islamic zealots, religion -- this time Christianity, not Islam -- was one of the driving forces behind this wanton desire to exterminate "infidels".

So, just remember, who the terrorists are is in the eye of the beholder.

Words of a Christian Martyr

I just finished watching the 2003 documentary Bonhoeffer. It details the life of German theologian and pacifist Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was hanged by the Nazis in 1945 for his role in a conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Earlier in my life, when I had flirted with attending seminary to become a Presbyterian minister, I read some of Bonhoeffer's works. His words spoke to me then as much as they speak to me now. And though the inspiration for his steadfast beliefs in peace, love and goodness spring forth from A Christian perspective, I still appreciate the clarity of his call to believers of all faiths and philosophies.

Here are some of his thoughts for you to chew on, pray about, contemplate or meditate on.

• To understand reality is not the same as to know about outward events. It is to perceive the essential nature of things. The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential. But on the other hand, knowledge of an apparently trivial detail quite often makes it possible to see into the depth of things. And so the wise man will seek to acquire the best possible knowledge about events, but always without becoming dependent upon this knowledge.

• The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.

• The followers of Christ have been called to peace. . . . And they must not only have peace but also make it. And to that end they renounce all violence and tumult. In the cause of Christ nothing is to be gained by such methods. . . . His disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering themselves rather than inflict it on others. They maintain fellowship where others would break
  it off. They renounce hatred and wrong. In so doing they over-come evil with good, and establish the peace of God in the midst of a world of war and hate.

• Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness and pride of power and with its plea for the weak. Christians are doing too little to make these points clear rather than too much. Christendom adjusts itself far too easily to the worship of power. Christians should give more offense, shock the world far more, than they are doing now. Christian should take a stronger stand in favor of the weak rather than considering first the possible right of the strong.

• Our enemies are those who harbor hostility against us, not those against whom we cherish hostility… As a Christian I am called to treat my enemy as a brother and to meet hostility with love. My behavior is thus determined not by the way others treat me, but by the treatment I receive from Jesus.

• Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others, we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as ourselves.

• Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. Yet all the time they are the very source of anxiety.

Die Gedanken Sind Frei

Over the past decade, I have been on many a front line protesting our military incursions in Iraq & Afghanistan. While many Americans applaud the efforts of war protesters, there are many who castigate us for exercising our constitutional right of free speech. One of the arguments many of this ilk have tried to shove down our throats is that we are only entitled to our freedoms -- including the right of speech that we are criticized for using -- because of the bravery and dedication of American soldiers who have fought wars to ensure these freedoms are our birthright.

There's only one problem with this sentiment -- it isn't correct. It is patently and categorically false.

More often than not, wars are waged for economic or geopolitical purposes. While the rhetoric employed is often bathed in patriotic or nationalist prose, few wars have ever been fought solely for the sake of personal or collective freedom.

As the following German folk song clearly indicates, the ultimate freedom is possessed by as all.

Die Gedanken sind frei, wer kann sie erraten,
sie fliegen vorbei wie nächtliche Schatten.
Kein Mensch kann sie wissen, kein Jäger erschießen
mit Pulver und Blei: Die Gedanken sind frei!

Ich denke was ich will und was mich beglücket,
doch alles in der Still', und wie es sich schicket.
Mein Wunsch, mein Begehren kann niemand verwehren,
es bleibet dabei: Die Gedanken sind frei!

Und sperrt man mich ein im finsteren Kerker,
das alles sind rein vergebliche Werke.
Denn meine Gedanken zerreißen die Schranken
und Mauern entzwei, die Gedanken sind frei!

Drum will ich auf immer den Sorgen entsagen
und will mich auch nimmer mit Grillen mehr plagen.
Man kann ja im Herzen stets lachen und scherzen
und denken dabei: Die Gedanken sind frei!

Ich liebe den Wein, mein Mädchen vor allen,
sie tut mir allein am besten gefallen.
Ich bin nicht alleine bei meinem Glas Weine,
mein Mädchen dabei: Die Gedanken sind frei!

Dust in the Wind

The other day my wife was watching a program on VH1 concerning someone's compilation of the 100 most popular rock ballads. Somewhere in the top ten -- I don't remember where as I wasn't paying close attention -- was the song Dust in the Wind by the group Kansas.

Commentator after commentator talked about how this particular song was sad and melancholy. One fellow made it sound like he felt like crying every time he heard the song.

Personally, I've always found it to be a beautiful song! If Taoists had anthems, I'm sure this would be one of them.

I suppose how one views the song is tied up in a person's view of dust. If you think of dust as unimportant specks of debris that get in your eyes and tends to make everything dirty, then I can certainly understand how you might interpret a song of this nature as being a bit of a downer.

In your mind's eye, the lyricist is telling you that you are as unimportant as dust.

On the other hand, if you view dust as being as important as any other thing in this life, then dust in the wind is sheer poetry. The message of the lyric is that, no matter how large or small a thing is, it is all part of the one reality, the Tao.

Same old song
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do
Crumbles to the ground
Though we refuse to see

Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind

Life in the Wake

Who hasn't stood at the edge of a lake or river and thrown a large rock into the water. It lands with a kerplunk on the surface and kicks up a splash. It also causes a ripple that begins at the epicenter of the water's displacement and moves beyond in all directions.

Life is a lot like the rock and the water. Every action -- proactive or reactive -- that is wrought by humankind or Mother Nature causes a ripple effect. It affects not only what is in the immediate area but things that seem separated by vast distances or time.

This is the point that confounds humanity again and again. Because our frame of reference viz-a-viz the universe is so small, we continuously fail to recognize the complete arc of the ripple that emanates from our own epicenters. We fail to recognize the cause and effect of our every action.

In present society, there's a great debate over the existence and causes of a phenomena called Global Warming. Some people discount its existence entirely. Others accept its presence, but believe it is part of the natural cycle of atmospheric conditions and that humans have had little effect on its occurrence. Still others believe it is the direct result of human tendencies to think short-term instead of long-term.

Regardless of where one falls on this continuum -- I fall in the human activity-induced camp -- I would hope that we could all agree that something has caused our atmosphere and climate to change somewhat to some significant degree. It is the result of a ripple from where somewhere or some time.

The film It's a Wonderful Life deals with this same premise. George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), facing a personal and professional crisis, wishes he had never been born and contemplates suicide. An angel provides him with a glimpse of what his sleepy little town would have been like without his life lived.

In dramatic and not so dramatic ways, the town of "Bedford Falls" doesn't look anything like he expects. Of course, since this IS a movie, it illustrates ONLY the positive aspects of his life and how -- had it not been lived -- many negatives now exist. In actuality, were any of us to get to view how our communities and loved ones dealt with a life sans us, there would be a great mixture of both positives and negatives!

In essence, each and every thought we think or breath we take influences the actions, behaviors and consciousness of the entire universe. We can't escape it! And this goes to the heart of why Taoists believe we aren't genuinely independent actors and that we are all part of one reality.

As we go, so goes the world.

Siphoning Gas!

For the third time in less than two months, gas has been siphoned from our truck leaving our gas gage on empty. The first time it happened I chalked it up to youthful pranksters. I didn't think much of it, but it's happened twice more. After the second such theft, my wife and I bought a locking gas cap; it turned out not to make ANY difference at all!

After the first incident, we've phoned the Aberdeen Police Department to report these thefts and the local police response has been negligible. Both times we've been assigned a case number and nothing else.

I realize we have a small police force and there are bigger fish to fry, but I was rather dumbfounded that the police wouldn't stop by to do something as small as dust the gas cap for prints. What if they catch a gas thief in the coming weeks? If they had fingerprints from numerous other such thefts, wouldn't they be able to match up the thief with a lot of crimes and thereby strengthen their case?

I suppose I'm more than a little irritated because, during the week of the port protests, I seemed to pick up a police tail every time I left my home. It seemed like within two or three blocks I'd find an Aberdeen police cruiser following me around town to such exciting destinations like the grocery store or the bank!

So how is it that the police had time for me when I wasn't doing ANYTHING illegal -- unless you consider free speech to be a criminal offense -- yet, when I'm the victim of a bona fide crime, they can't be bothered?

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

I find it ironic that, though we live in a world predominated by roundness, cycles and circles, most westerners view life in a linear fashion with definable beginnings and endings. The primary reasons for this apparent contradiction are borne in the fact that western civilized society is characterized by two dominant perspectives: Judeo-Christian belief and rationalism.

In terms of the former, the very conception of life is viewed in terms of the God story as told through the Christian Bible. The first 3 words of this work are "In the beginning" and the last installment -- Revelations -- describe the "end times". Consequently, in no uncertain terms, Christians are fixated on the concepts of first and last or beginning and end.

Yet, as we gaze out into the world in which we live, we don't find this dichotomy afoot at all. Far from being characterized as fixed points along a straight continuum, the natural processes of life are bound into never ending cycles.

Consider for a moment the roundness of our universe. All of the planets that make up our solar system are round. Each rotates in a circle on its axis and each rotates in a circle around the largest star, the sun.

Beyond this roundness is the cyclical aspect of nature. The four seasons form a circle. Each day is a circle. The life process itself is representative of a circle. Everywhere we look there are circles and yet we construct belief systems, philosophies and ideologies that run counter to nature.

For me, this represents one of the chief reasons that humankind tends to feel estranged from the world. Every other aspect of reality operates within this natural rhythm of life, while we vainly try to operate in a manner that is counterintuitive and at odds with everything else. It's no wonder so many of us feel alienated, isolated and stressed.

For centuries Taoism has been locked away inside the Far East. Slowly, as more and more people look for avenues outside the Judeo-Christian perspective, people from all walk of life are turning to Taoist philosophy to come to a better understanding of humankind's place in the overall scheme of things.

Taoists do not see the world in a counterintuitive fashion. We recognize and celebrate the cyclical nature of all things and it is our purpose to try as best we can to move with and in the stream of life to flow with all creation.

We Need a "Special" Military Draft

Regardless of the type of group one might speak of, the best group leaders are those who lead by example, not word. It's far easier and more effective to convince the gaggle to accept all forms of hardship and sacrifice, IF the leader is "in the trenches" with the rest of the team.

In regards to the war in Iraq, our elected national representatives in Washington, DC are leading by word, NOT example. While both the Bush administration and the US Congress continue to execute the war on Iraq, few, if any of them, have members of the own family in harm's way.

To remedy this deplorable circumstance, I have a proposal for a very "special" military draft. (This draft would also be advantageous for our troop numbers as recruitment has been way down as of late.)

Each and every member of the Bush Cabinet (and their subordinates) plus each member of Congress would have one age-appropriate member of their immediate family drafted to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan. If no individual in the immediate family meets the specification, then the pool would be widened to nephews/nieces, uncles/aunts, cousins and on down the line.

Because of his devout support of the "War on Terror", George W. Bush's would send both of his twin daughters.

At this juncture, I could fathom several war hawks saying, "Sure, we'll go along with this plan." (wink, wink) "No problem!" Of course, these wily folks would be thinking that they'd get their family members assigned stateside or in a cushy position inside the protected "Green Zone".

But my proposal takes these high jinks into consideration. Each "recruit" from the special draft would start out at the bottom rank. They would each be assigned to platoons that conduct daily excursions into Sadir City, Fallujah, Basra or the hundreds of other cities and towns in Iraq or Afghanistan.

They would have no special standing. They would be outfitted like other foot soldier. They would sleep in the same tents, eat the same food, run on the same schedules and drive the same vehicles.

If this proposal were adopted, then I think a great many more Americans would stand solidly behind the war. They would understand that our elected leaders weren't asking average citizens to sacrifice something they would never dream of sacrificing.

Our leaders would be leading by example and we would gladly follow them to hell and back.

The S is Gone

I've decided to revert this blog back to its singular sense. For the past few months, I've listed my brother's name along with mine as authors of this blog. In reality, however, brother Sean has NEVER posted an entry. He HAD intended to do so, but he's simply not a prolific writer like his elder sibling.

So, for all of you who have checked out Sean's profile and wondered which entries were his and which ones were mine, they have ALL been mine. Each and every one of them.

My brother is a really neat fellow, but it's become obvious that he's just not at the point in which writing on a blog is one of his priorities and that's quite okay.

The Disassociated American

As a group, we Americans don't seem too care much about the hows and whys of modern life. As the chief consumers of consumables, what matters most to us is that the price is right, the service is good and the product arrives on time. In other words, we are a superficial people. Not only do we not care what lies just below the surface, we seldom even glance beyond the surface sheen.

We drive our vehicles like there's no tomorrow. We slurp up petroleum like a thirsty man guzzles water after being lost in the desert. We don't seem to care that oil is a finite resource and that most of it is found under the soil of other sovereign nations. We need it to fuel our insatiable appetites, so we have few qualms about murdering others to get control of it. Hey, it's our God given right!

We gorge ourselves on foods produced by the sweat and toil of others. Who cares if these workers are paid less than a subsistence wage which forces them to live in squalid conditions? Who cares how many rain forests are plowed under or how many peasants are thrown off their land to make way for corporate agriculture? Who cares how many tons of pesticides and other toxins are used to increase the crop yield?

All of that is unimportant to us. All we care about is that price of apples, bananas, potatoes, sirloin and whatever else is within our reach.

The same can be said about our clothing and other creature comforts. We don't worry about the poor who toil away in sweatshops for pennies a day so we can purchase our Nike shoes or Martha Stewart cooking gadgets for $89.95. It's not our problem that the people who make our cherished possessions don't earn enough in a week, month or year to buy the product for themselves.

A lot of pundits have predicted that the American empire is on the wane. They point to our imperialistic tendencies and nonsustainable policies as the chief culprits. While I share their belief in the bottom line prediction, I believed the one variable that will do us in is our disassociation from humanity.

Until we, as a society, learn genuinely to understand the true ramifications of cause-and-effect, we will continue down this road to eventual ruin.

At the end of the day, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

Topsy-Turvy World

Words are curious things. Without them, written communication would be near impossible. With them, communication often is ambiguous, at best. It's not that words necessarily are imprecise; it's more the way each person hears words and individually or collectively comprehends each one.

Descriptive words -- whether adjectives or nouns -- frequently cause all sorts of confusion. Take the words far and long. What is far or long to one person may be quite near or short to another.

Then there are words that seem to indicate one thing when they really indicate something altogether different. A ground hog is not a pig but a rodent. A pineapple doesn't grow on a pine tree nor is it an apple. And what is it it that conservatives are attempting to conserve?

To conserve means to protect from loss or harm; preserve; to use carefully or sparingly, avoiding waste. Yet, it is political conservatives who tend to favor policies, laws and strategies that harm and use up our finite environmental resources. It is many of these same individuals who castigate the science behind global warming.

Contrast this position with political radicals (e.g., tree hugging environmentalists). It is the radicals who desire to protect from loss or harm and preserve our natural world. This is the group that opposes clear-cutting of forests, nuclear energy and its concomitant waste, defiling of our air and war, and promotes such ideas as alternative energy initiatives and reining in urban sprawl.

Consequently, when it comes to environmental issues, we find that we live in a topsy-turvy world. The so-called conservative favors a radical and nonsustainable approach, while the so-called radical takes the conservative position.

The Unwinnable Solution

If you've read anything on this blog, my columns on Grays Harbor Online or my quotes in The Daily World, it should be quite evident that I believe this bloody war in Iraq is immoral and ethical. However, for this brief moment, let's set my personal sentiments aside.

Let's say we accept the notion that this war is neither immoral nor unethical. Heck, let's even say that the best way to achieve "victory" is to send enough soldiers to get our troop numbers up to 250,000 and we arm them with as much munitions and supplies as they could ever desire, including nuclear weapons!

Will all this guarantee a resounding US victory bathed in the flag, mom and apple pie?
In a word, no. We will still lose.

The only surefire way to root out a faceless enemy is to shoot everything and everyone in sight. You never know when that one innocent face in the crowd might later turn out to be the next suicide bomber. So, we would need to lay waste to the entirety of Iraq and, while we're at it, we might as well decimate Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Palestine too.

The chief problem with this kind of strategy is that, no matter how many people you kill, more enemies will keep cropping up. So, you'll have to kill them too, only to find there are now more and more of them.

You see, whenever a nation or people start indiscriminately slaughtering both the guilty and the innocent, it causes others to react with revulsion. The allies of the group being slaughtered both will seek revenge AND, since they may well figure they're next in line, they'll take the offensive.

In time though, the problem will hit much closer to home -- it won't be the allies of the vanquished that we'll be most worried about, it will be our OWN allies. They will begin to worry that we are becoming too powerful and ruthless. They will worry that we are getting too big for our britches and may well become a threat to their economic survival.

You see, this is the chief problem with war. It begets itself over and over again. Today's victory leads to tomorrow's defeat and, sooner or later, ALL empires fall under their own blood lust and weight.

So, from a rational standpoint, this drive by some to utterly defeat Iraq and/or global terrorism is really the first step in annihilating America. Yes, we might claim victory now, but down the road we will receive our comeuppance for it.

Don't take my word for it. Grab any world history book and read it for yourself.

A Working Class Anthem

As we marched through the streets of Aberdeen & Hoquiam protesting the military shipments through the Port of Grays Harbor, I thought that besides the chants and shouts, we should be singing. But sing what?

Years ago I heard "The Internationale" written & performed by folk singer Billy Bragg. If the progressive movement ever adopted an anthem, I think this should be it.

The Internationale

Stand up, all victims of oppression
For the tyrants fear your might
Don't cling so hard to your possessions
For you have nothing, if you have no rights
Let racist ignorance be ended
For respect makes the empires fall
Freedom is merely privilege extended
Unless enjoyed by one and all

Chorus:
So come brothers and sisters
For the struggle carries on
The Internationale
Unites the world in song
So comrades come rally
For this is the time and place
The international ideal
Unites the human race

Let no one build walls to divide us
Walls of hatred nor walls of stone
Come greet the dawn and stand beside us
We'll live together or we'll die alone
In our world poisoned by exploitation
Those who have taken, now they must give
And end the vanity of nations
We've but one Earth on which to live

Chorus

And so begins the final drama
In the streets and in the fields
We stand unbowed before their armour
We defy their guns and shields
When we fight, provoked by their aggression
Let us be inspired by like and love
For though they offer us concessions
Change will not come from above

Chorus

Words: Billy Bragg
Music: Pierre Degeyter

Representing the Big Doughnut

Legendary professional football coach Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers has been quoted as remarking, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing". Our society has taken this sentiment to the extreme. We live in a world in which almost everybody strives not to be reliable, ethical or competent, but to be #1. We're told again and again that the spoils go solely to the victors and, if the potentiality of winning is not within one's grasp, then there's no reason to even play the game.

Take a look at our consumer-based society. We are beaten over the head with the message that we must drive the biggest and baddest car, live in the largest house or wear the snazziest clothes to be a somebody that matters. If a person doesn't strive for such things, well...something has got to be wrong with you.

Another arena this mantra takes center stage is in the political world. I grow so tired of the widespread belief that one must have a realistic and viable chance for victory or you have no business to enter the fray.

In far too many parts of this country --including right in here in Grays Harbor County -- one political party holds sway. In most of this county, a candidate stands little chance of winning unless a D is listed next to their name. Does that mean that only Democrats reside here?

Of course not! Grays Harbor County is just like every other county. We have people who span the political spectrum from the most conservative conservatives to radical left-wingers like myself.

In the halls of Olympia or the various government bodies throughout the region, we have no elected officials that represent our views and, since we may well be in the minority, when candidates appear that represent our perspectives, they are told to sit down and shut up because everyone "knows" that can't possibly win!

I don't know about you, but I believe there's more to life than winning and/or being on the victorious side. In fact, I dare say there is great worth in standing up for what one believes in even if you know in your heart of hearts that your position or perspective will not win out.

As many of you know, I was one of the local organizers for the recent protests at the Port of Grays Harbor. While I would be lying if I said that one of our goals was not to influence public opinion to come to see that shipping supplies to Iraq only fuels this immoral war, that wasn't the key reason I chose to be involved.

If I had been out there all by my lonesome and had been the ONLY person protesting, I still would have found much merit in my actions. Most of us have bedrock principles that we believe in. It is incumbent upon us to stand up for those beliefs and give voice to them. If not, that bedrock crumbles and we end up standing for nothing.

For me, whether or not a particular perspective or position is popular or is viewed as a potential winner is inconsequential. The losing side of any debate needs as much representation as the winning side. If not, then how can anyone expect new ideas or perspectives ever to gain a foothold.

Look at history. Such novel concepts as the 8-hour workday, social security, a woman's right to vote or equality for blacks (to name a scant few) were unpopular positions when they were each first brought into public purview. People were lynched, arrested and killed for espousing such revolutionary ideas. It was only because there were people willing publicly to stand up and give voice to these "losing" concepts that they are each now part of our culture today.

So, I challenge people, regardless of your views, to stand up for what you believe in, whether or not it is popular. To give voice to your perspective, whether or not you have any hopes of winning. If not, then we all lose.

Me & My "Shadows"

We seem to live in a world in which almost everybody wants to be famous. That's about the only explanation that makes any sense out of the recent spate of so-called "reality" shows, talent contests and Jerry Springer-like clones. People from all walks of life want their moment "in the sun" and they'll try to finagle a way to get their cute little mug on camera by any means possible, be it for something positive OR negative.

I've never desired to be famous. I actually enjoy being just another anonymous face in the crowd. I can putter about my business in my own time on my own terms.

Over the past few days, however, I've seemed to have developed a following -- literally. It seems like every time I go anywhere in my truck, I soon find a member of the Aberdeen police department on my tail. They follow me for several blocks and, on several occasions, almost all the way home.

If I drive to the port, they follow me all over the place. If I'm just moseying around town -- like to the gas station or the store -- I have almost always had an "escort" for some of the time. Today, when I stopped at the bank, I came out to find one of my favorite unmarked cars waiting in the parking lot.

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but it does seem like everywhere I go these past few days, there they are.

In the end, it doesn't make that much difference. I'm not up to anything secretive. I'm not traveling to clandestine meetings. I'm just doing what I usually do each day with my little tag alongs tagging along behind.

So guys, if you want to keep playing this weird game, go ahead. After awhile, I think you're going to become very bored because I'm not headed any place special. I'm just making my rounds.

Books & Their Covers

Amongst the legions of peace activists who participated in yesterday's march, there were around 6 or 7 young people who wore bandannas over their faces and some even worse sunglasses. The police kept a very close eye on this group. Why? Solely because of the way they dressed.

When I was young, my parents taught me a maxim that I'm certain most every other parent teaches their children as well -- You shouldn't judge a book by its cover. In other words, you shouldn't allow superficial observations to color your ultimate judgment of a person or situation. Yet this is precisely what the police were/are doing.

Not jumping to quick conclusions seems to be a hard task for all of us. We take a quick glance at a particular circumstance and immediately formulate an opinion. There's nothing wrong with this UNLESS we allow our partial formulation to solidify into a hardcore final analysis. By doing this, we often cast aside pertinent information and further observation that might very well change our overall attitude about our snap judgment.

I've met many, many people who I initially disliked. The first time I encountered one of my best friends from Salem, he was berating a candidate that I served as campaign manager for. He ranted, raved and fumed about what he thought was wrong with the focus of the campaign message.

If I had allowed my knee jerk reaction to govern my final view of this man, I never would have gotten to know him. I never would have discovered his wry sense of humor, his devotion to his wife and children, his commitment to education (he's a history prof at Willamette University) or his dedication to public service. In essence, someone who has turned out to be one of my dearest friends would have remained a stranger to me!

As our march and rally wound down yesterday, I went up to thank each of these youth for their participation. With bandannas removed, I saw youthful faces not unlike countless other faces in the crowd. These young people were no more a threat to "public order" than any other attendee there.

Still, I will admit to the world that there was a time not so long ago when I made the same mistake as the police. Maybe it's a generational thing. As an organizer with Oregon PeaceWorks, I worked with a lot of the so-called street youth in Salem.

I was initially put off by all these young people with weirdly colored hair, dog collars around their necks, ball bearings stapled in their tongues and piercings and body jewelry adorning almost every inch of their bodies. Fortunately, I was able to cast off my "older guy" prejudices and work with these kids on a daily basis. In time, I realized how silly my snap judgments were. Their piercings were nothing more revolutionary than the long hair of my youth.

In this same vein, bandannas covering one's face both is a social and political statement. No more, no less. It certainly doesn't mean that such individuals are prone to violence anymore than anyone else is.

I'm glad these young people came to help us in this protest and I will welcome them with open arms at any future such event. I also hope that local law enforcement personnel will try to remember the lesson they too learned so many years ago as children -- Don't judge a book by its cover.