9/11: The "Perfect Opportunity" for North American Integration By Andrew G. Marshall | |
URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index | |
Global Research, February 14, 2008 | |
On February 12, 2008, the Canadian newspaper, the Financial Post, published an opinion piece by Michael Hart, of Carleton University, entitled, “Canada Blew It,” in which he blamed the “slow” approach to North American integration on Canada’s policies following 9/11. The article begins by stating: “The Canadian and U.S. economies have become intertwined in response to demands by Canadians and Americans for each other's products, services, capital, and ideas. Yet the border as presently constituted protects Canadians and Americans from each other, not from global security threats. It also presents a risk to the wealth-creating flow of people, goods, services and capital between the two countries.”1 Hart states that in order to “address global security concerns”, Canada and the US need to, “develop co-operative solutions to common problems.” He stated to do this, Canada and the US should implement an, “agenda aimed at removing the border to the largest extent possible as an obstacle to Canada-U.S. interaction and integration.” He continues in outlining the steps to be taken in this agenda, the first of which is to, “re-imagine the border.” Hart explains that much of the problems with the border are a result of “regulatory compliance”, as in having a border, to which he proposes a solution in which, “Canada and the United States need to aggressively pursue regulatory convergence,” or in other words, harmonization. He continues, “It is in Canada's interests to align as many of its regulatory requirements as possible with those of the United States.” In discussing the security of “North America’s” economic infrastructure, Hart states, “Similar to our interdependence in ensuring the security of the North American continent, neither country can ensure the security of its economic infrastructure without the full co-operation of the other,” to which he elaborates that, “we need to build the necessary institutions and networks of co-operation that ensure that American and Canadian officials are working together toward common objectives and doing so on the basis of constructive political oversight.”2 Amazingly, Hart stated that it is “not a trade agenda”, but is, in fact, “an integration agenda that requires the full participation of departments and agencies on both sides of the border responsible for border administration, economic regulation, and infrastructure integrity.” Hart continued in his critique of the slow process of integration, stating that, “The crisis of Sept. 11, 2001, provided a perfect opportunity to seize the moment to re-imagine the border, but Canada blew it [emphasis added].” This is a clear example of how important it is for those who oppose the processes of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), and the North American Union which it seeks to create, must also examine the relationship between integration and terror; between the North American Union and 9/11. These are not separate elements of one another, these events are themselves deeply integrated, in both purpose and strategy. It is integral for those that oppose the NAU to review the attacks of September 11, 2001, to see the linkages between them and understand them as something beyond random associations and reactions to one another. As to explaining why “Canada blew it,” Hart states that, “Rather than work with the United States to address real security and related concerns, and to build a much-better functioning, more open, and more integrated North America, Canadian authorities reacted defensively and anxiously to American security concerns.” But this is a gross misrepresentation, as shortly after 9/11, in December of 2001, “Governor Tom Ridge and Deputy Prime Minister John Manley Signed the Smart Border Declaration and Associated 30-Point Action Plan to Enhance the Security of Our Shared Border While Facilitating the Legitimate Flow of People and Goods,”3 according to the White House’s December hu2002 press release on the subject. Part of the 30-Point Action plan included “Biometric Identifiers”, stating, “In the interest of having cards that could be used across different modes of travel, we have agreed to use cards that are capable of storing multiple biometrics.” Another of the 30 points was “Permanent Residence Cards”, or in other words, ID Cards. Further, the plans also stated that, “The United States and Canada have agreed to share Advance Passenger Information and Passenger Name Records (API/PNR) on high-risk travelers destined to either country.” This is hardly stepping away from integration between the two countries, as Michael Hart seems to imagine. Hart further explains that, “In the absence of another crisis, only inspired leadership can overcome the narrow-minded response of special and entrenched interests and bureaucratic self-preservation.”4 Then, in revealing the true intent of the SPP, Hart states, “Each group [Canada and the US] is adept at exploiting the default position of incrementalism, exemplified by such initiatives as the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Progress will be made under the SPP banner, but at a snail's pace and without the impact needed to make a perceptible difference.” This is a public admission of the SPP being an incremental approach to “deep integration”, of which then ultimate goal is to form a North American Union. Hart explains that a key source of leadership is, “a business sector prepared to speak out forcefully and convincingly about the costs and lost opportunities flowing from misdirected and overzealous border administration.” So who is Michael Hart? He is the Simon Reisman Chair in Trade Policy at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University.5 He is the first person to hold this position, which is named after Simon Reisman, “Canada's Chief Negotiator during the free trade talks with the United States, he also participated in a series of important international trade negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.”6 Reisman was recently quoted by CTV regarding the 1988 Canada US Free Trade Agreement, saying, “We got it, we didn't get it all. We left a little for posterity.”7 Further, Michael Hart “was a senior official in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade specializing in trade policy and trade negotiations.”8 He was also the author of a document entitled, “Free Trade in Free Fall? Assessing the Impact of Nontariff Barriers on Canada-U.S. Trade,” published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.9 From 2004 to 2005, Hart was a visiting scholar at the Center for North American Studies at American University,10 of which the Director is Robert Pastor.11 Robert Pastor is infamously referred to as the “father” of the North American Union, and arguably its chief public spokesperson and champion, and was the Co-Chair of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America, a joint task force between the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in the United States and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) in Canada, as well as the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, which produced the document “Building a North American Community.”12 This document is the blueprint for the Security and Prosperity Agreement of North America, which outlines the overall objectives of the agreement in its goals of “integrating” North America. Robert Pastor is also on the Board of Directors of the North American Forum on Integration, or NAFI, alongside the Chairman, Stephen Black, who is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.13 NAFI, “aims to address the issues raised by North American integration as well as identify new ideas and strategies to reinforce the North American region,”14 which every year, since 2005, holds what it calls a “Triumvirate”, which their website describes as, “an annual North American mock parliament,” which, “allows a hundred Canadian, American and Mexican university students to better understand the North American dynamic as well as the challenges faced by NAFTA partners.”15 Among the participating Universities in NAFI, is the American University, (of course), Simon Fraser University, of which an economics professor emeritus recently wrote an article for the Financial Post in which he mentioned the amero currency as a goal in North America [See: North American Monetary Integration: Here Comes the Amero, Global Research16], and another notable university is Carleton University.17 It just so happens that the author of Canada Blew It, Michael Hart, works at Carleton. The process towards a North American Union is embedded in our societal institutions, from the corporate world, to media, government and education. These are individuals connected through joint membership in think tanks and interest groups of those who share ideological beliefs in internationalism and globalization. So, too, must those who oppose the SPP and the NAU be embedded in all the institutions of our societies, working not for personal gain and profit, but for country and freedom, preserving our rights, liberties and identity, and exposing those who seek to challenge our inherent human rights.
1 Michael Hart, Canada Blew It. The Financial Post: February 12, 2008: 3 Office of the Press Secretary, U.S. - Canada Smart Border/30 Point Action Plan Update. The White House: December 6, 2002: 5 About NPSIA, Simon Reisman Chair in Trade Policy. Carleton University: 7 CTV.ca news staff, Poll says most North Americans support free trade. CTV News: September 30, 2007: 8 About NPSIA, Simon Reisman Chair in Trade Policy. Carleton University: 9 Events at the Center, Free Trade in Free Fall? Assessing the Impact of Nontariff Barriers on Canada-U.S. Trade. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: February 8, 2008: 10 Past Senior Fellows, Michael Hart. Center for North American Studies at American University: 11 Center for North American Studies, Robert A. Pastor. Center for North American Studies at American University: 12 CFR.org, Building a North American Community. Council on Foreign Relations Press: May 2005: http://www.cfr.org/publication 13 NAFI, Our Board of Directors. NAFINA: http://www.fina-nafi.org/eng 14 NAFI, The North American Forum on Integration. 16 Andrew G. Marshall, North American Monetary Integration: Here Comes the Amero. Global Research: January 20, 2008: | |
February 15, 2008
November 26, 2007
October 20, 2007
What if we've already been rounded up?
The pragmatism of a dystopian present-tense.
Edited on Fri Oct-19-07 12:33 PM by nashville_brook
It seems reasonable to me that politically aware people such as fellow DUers would be waxing dystopian lately. We're witnessing bizarre and regular shocks to our collective pysche...
-- The Katrina Massacre (a city overtaken by paramilitary thugs, mass death and random imprisonment/police violence);
-- police brutality at shutting down mass demonstrations (such as the LAPD Immigration rally melee); and,
-- tasering civilians practicing free speech in a university setting,
-- Grand jury subpoenas IP addresses of alt-newsweekly readership
Given these abuses, it's only normal to air our anxiety about what happens next. We worry for our kids: what sort of world they are inheriting? We want to fix it. Instead of paranoid "fantasies," I see worried "parents" are getting over their fear of what happens next and entering a "strategy" phase, as Naomi Klein hopefully posits in The Shock Doctrine: when the shock starts to wear off, we can get down to the business of making life better.
So, it's with alarm and puzzlement, that "worst case scenario" discussions often attract heated debate as to whether or not the worst could really happen "here." Some people seem personally invested in the notion that nothing that bad could ever happen here. Their posts are peppered with tinfoily hats and eyeroll icons. I guess the desire is to claim a moral or intellectual high ground, as if there's an upside to ignoring creeping authoritarianism. Is there a real-world upside to ignoring the temperature rising under our amphibious butts?
I'm puzzled by this response, because, as I see it, no one loses when ideas are freely discussed. If no worse case scenario happens, well, yea. In the meantime, why wouldn't you "reality check" and strategize?
Setting this aside for a moment, I think it's significant that our discussions are evolving from mere anxiety to strategizing. Might we be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, if we are no longer afraid to answer these questions?
I'm going to assert that our worst case scenarios HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED. Consider New Orleans in the wake of the levee failures and the paramilitary takeover.
Doesn't it seem like we had a worst case scenario there? For all the people who died in their attics, or lost their homes, or are forever poisoned from the environment, it doesn't get any worse.
The narrative that has captured our imagination and generated controversy is the "good german" myth, where rights are diminished to the point of non-existence, while everyone looks on. We imagine that we'll know when "it's fascism" by the presence of government troops and concentration camps. But, the founders of this country imagined a different worse case scenario -- tyranny in the form oligarchy and theocracy. Our laws and Constitution were written to protect the people from the concentration of wealth and political power. Who here can say that we are not yet danger regarding these threats? Who here can say that economic and political power haven't ALREADY slipped from our grasp?
What if the shit hit the fan a long time ago and we're not noticing it because we've grown accustomed to the constant stream of poo covering our cultural landscape? "Good german" scenarios warn against the loss of freedom. So, can someone please tell me what freedom it is that you are afraid of losing? Can you put that "freedom" in plain sight so that we can guard it more carefully? Because, think we have basic misunderstanding. The Good German Syndrome is the fear of complicity in the face of loss of freedom. I think our problem is more serious and talk about "freedom" is meaningless. Our problem is that we've lost our POWER, not our FREEDOM.
We can speak all we want. We can speak in "free speech zones." We can speak if we don't mind being tasered. We can march in mass demonstrations if we aren't too afraid of being caught in the middle of a melee. We can post on DU, as long as we don't mind that the telecomms are keeping track of everything we say. We have freedom of movement as long as we don't mind cavity searches if we show up on a secret "no-fly" list.
We have freedom-in-quotation-marks in spades.
The problem is we have no power to be heard because our government has no interest in speech that doesn't come in an envelope with a large donation.
Does money equal speech, as the Supreme Court will likely rule 5-to-4 for the rest of our lifetimes? If corporations enjoy "freedom of speech" via money (which I have very little of), then, how likely is it that my speech will be heard?
Earlier this week, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi lamented her inability to arrest those exercising free speech outside her Bay Area mansion. Do you think, if those wishing to be heard, came bearing giant corporporate donations, that they'd be outside building buddahs? No, they'd be inside being heard. Forget about having the power to compete against the deafening ka-ching of lobbyist checks being cashed. We no longer even have the commodious tolerance for speech (even in San Francisco!), by our so-called Democratic leadership. Were that we were homeless, indeed.
Freedom is nothing without POWER, and we're starting to realize just how vulnerable this has made us. Discussing "what if" and "worst case" scenarios is a response to our loss of power. It makes perfect sense to take inventory of our assets and formulate a response in the face of another, larger, deeper catastrophe -- such as the "World War 3" Bush says is "worth starting" in Iran.
I think we've already been "rounded up." We're fed-up, and we're not going to take it anymore. Our discussions at this point are about REGAINING POWER -- not pre-empting a disaster.
October 07, 2007
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Add to My Group
| October 5, 2007 at 18:08:22 FROM FASCISM TO FREEDOM: Stirring the Winds of Political Climate Change by Steve Bhaerman Page 1 of 3 page(s) | |   |
There is a poignant passage in Kurt Vonnegut's book Slaughterhouse Five where he imagines a devastating bombing scene as a movie being run backward on a projector. The fires on the ground disappear as the bombs are sucked up into the bombers, which fly backward and land on a military base. There, the bombs are removed from the planes and taken to a factory, where they are dismantled. Perhaps this wishful fantasy was inspired by Vonnegut's own experience watching the fire bombing of Dresden.
If and when our bombs begin falling on Iran, given our current limitations in navigating space and time, we will not be able to run the movie backward. The dead will still be dead, the destroyed will still be destroyed, and among the casualties will be our own open society. The damage will be irreversible, and in fact will have reversed 230 years of forward progress towards a just society, and a sane world.
There are two common impulses at a crisis time like this. The first is, "Don't just stand there. Do something!" The other is, "Don't do something. Just stand there." So instead of futilely flailing about or hopelessly resigning, it makes sense to take a deep breath and fully assess the situation. The first piece of good news is, there are at least 50 million of us in accord that the reins of power have gotten out of our hands, and this illegitimate power must be reined in.
Three situations that have been in the news in recent weeks -- the tasering of the student by police in Florida and the "tasering" of MoveOn by the U.S. Senate; the momentum toward attacking Iran that the Democratic misleadership seems to have fallen in line with; the further exposure of Blackwater as "contractors" in the Mafia sense of "contract" -- have focused a sense of urgency. That's a good thing.
Perhaps finally those hundred thousand organizations Paul Hawken talks about as working for a healthier world can stop what they are doing and address the huge elephant in the living room -- the American empire that promotes torture and assassination abroad and fascism at home. We must face the obstacle right in front of us that stands in the way of all of the good things that are possible in this world. In other words, there will be no action on climate change until there is political climate change, and to have political climate change requires focus. As the Swami says, "If we want the political winds to change, we must all blow in the same direction at the same time."
Whoa Cowboy -- A Two-Step Plan to Rein in Illegitimate Power
We don't want to be wasting precious energy blowing against the wind or rowing against the flow, so it makes sense to look for the open channels that can flow us toward a concerted and effective movement. So first of all, let's establish two short-term intentions. If we accomplish these, we will be able to demonstrate to our "leaders," to ourselves and to the world that we are on our way to restoring legitimate rule to America. These are:
1. Preempt and prevent an attack on Iran.
2. Reverse the trend of fascism at home.
There are specific implications of these, including coming up with a workable Middle East strategy for peace, restoring habeas corpus and repealing the so-called Patriot Act, disempowering private fascist armies such as Blackwater, and launching a people's impeachment and truth and reconciliation movement. (I'd personally like to call the organization Citizens for Impeaching the Administration, CIA for short, but that's a conversation for later. We will earn that next level by mastering this one first.)
So let's look at our leverage points right now and see how we can begin applying that leverage. What do we have going for us?
1. The Ongoing Up-Wising. There is a growing awareness on the part of progressive left and libertarian right -- not to mention millions of other Americans -- that neither the neoconservatives nor the neoliberals have the interests of we the people at heart. As Ron Paul continues to gather support on the Republican side from disenfranchised conservative voters, more and more people on all sides are waking up to the sad truth that politics as usual means the usual lies. There is a great deal of emotional energy that is being aroused here, and so our task is to find a highly-effective way to focus it.
2. "Generally" Speaking, There is Unprecedented Opposition to War Policies. Those who are bearing the more immediate cost of empire, members of our military, are waking up as well. A recent article indicates that twenty recently-retired generals are speaking out against the Iraq War and the proposed attack on Iran. This includes the former U.S. Commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. The implications of this are huge. According to the aforementioned article ten days ago in the San Diego Union-Tribune (in the heart of military country), "What might be called The Revolt of the Generals has rarely happened in the nation's history. In op-ed pieces, interviews and TV ads, more than 20 retired U.S. generals have broken ranks with the culture of salute and keep it in the family. Instead, they are criticizing the commander in chief and other top civilian leaders who led the nation into what the generals believe is a misbegotten and tragic war."
Along those same lines comes the speculation that the recent transport of nuclear weapons from Minot Air Force Base -- and the leaking of that information -- could have been an attempt on the part of a faction in the military to thwart a nuclear attack on Iran.
Pay No Attention to the (Wo)Man IN FRONT of the Curtain
In spite of the fact that both the progressive left and the non-neocon right are waking up to this lowjacking of America, there has been virtually no transpartisan concerted action. From a contextual standpoint, our mission now is to remove our focus from the political puppet show of candidates telling the usual lies. (Swami's new slogan is "Pay no attention to the (wo)man IN FRONT OF the curtain".) Instead, we need to focus our attention and financial resources on the three truth-telling candidates: Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel and Ron Paul. What's important is that these three represent the functional wings of both left and right that need to come front and center for us to win. Show them you support truth and send them money. Send the "front-running" candidates empty envelopes with photo copies of your checks to the other three candidates to indicate you are no longer willing to fund lies. Seriously. This is an important discipline right now, particularly for those who identify as Democrats.
Think of the Democrats as the flawed lover who tells us they are going to leave their "spouse" (i.e., the powers of the American empire) but never do. When they need something from us, they tell us how much they love us -- but they always go home to the Empire. So ... now we have to be strong. We have to tell them we are no longer willing to get into bed with them without a commitment. It's either the empire or us! In other words, will they respect us the day after Election Day? The best way to make sure is to make them respect us now.
Speaking of Dempublicrats, the reason why they've painted themselves into such a pathetic corner is because they have failed to contextualize the war in Iraq for what it is -- a war for empire. What Chalmers Johnson said in his recent book, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic is something wise patriots on both the left and the right have understood: Empire abroad is incompatible with freedom at home. Just as surely as the American Revolutionaries were up against the British Empire 230 years ago, American Evolutionaries today must understand today's challenge is the American Empire, a leviathan bigger than either King George.
So ... coming from that context, and recognizing the American people have to recapture the political conversation before we recapture our government, what do we do? The answer is ... I don't have the answer. But working together on the twofold intention of preventing the next war (and in the process, ending the current one) and restoring freedom in this country, I have complete confidence that we WILL prevail. What we have been lacking until now has been a unifying, drop-everything-else mission that proactively takes us forward. If fifty million of us blow in the same direction at once, there is no doubt we can bring down the wall of lies just as surely as the Berlin Wall came down.
Where There's a Willingness, There's a Way
The way has not showed up as yet because there hasn't been the collective, focused will. First the will, then the way. The will requires a willingness to stand and keep standing, understanding that standing is easier when we are standing together. Next comes the intention, the prize we have our eyes on. What does it look like and feel like to no longer have to be afraid of your own government, and know the world is in less danger because of it? What will we see in the world that will tell us we have momentum towards peace? That we've won back precious freedoms at home? That we are on our way to working together instead of being manipulated into fighting one another?
Once we have that focused intention -- and know it is shared by tens of millions of Americans, with more awakening every day -- and are strengthened in our willingness, the ways will be obvious and many. The nature of leadership in this context is that it will come from everywhere, and above all the shared intention and the willingness to persevere. As for what kinds of structures and campaigns will be needed, here are some ideas:
1. A High Profile Front and Center Movement. It's inevitable, and will hopefully happen sooner and not later. We need a high-profile, celebrity-laden, transpartisan council of well-known, well-respected, influential individuals and organizations to finally draw the line and JUST SAY NO to fascism at home and preemptive, undeclared warfare abroad. That means repeal of the Patriot Act, restoration of habeas corpus, repudiation of police state tactics and the end of the dictatorship by unitary executive.
Tactically, we are seeking to recapture the media, and at the same time -- just to make sure --put the media in its place. This means we need to launch a massive non-media campaign. We need to communicate outside the mainstream media, and preempt the media by speaking to people in the community directly -- by the each or by the bunch. Each of us holding this holistic context is an educator.
We use car banners, truck banners and if we can afford it, billboards. We wear arm bands. In so doing, we constantly remind ourselves of how many of us there are out there. Above all, we must go way beyond the obsolete distinctions of "Democrat" and "Republican." Clear-thinking and goodhearted people on both sides have been hoodwinked into gravitating to the neoliberal and neoconservative camps -- two-sides of the same worthless coin. The greatest political awakening of this new century will be this: Supporters of Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich have more in common with each other than with the leaders of their respective political parties. The heart and soul of these campaigns are in the same place, even if the details and approaches (more government vs. less government) are different. As we allow ourselves to be politically educated -- i.e., as the patriot left and the patriot right compare notes -- those with their hearts in the right place will work together to develop creative policies that are impossible under the thumb of empire.
2. Massive Snail Mail Campaigns to March for Us, Even When We Stay Home. Meanwhile, we strategically use snail mail in great numbers focused on specific entities, to make it clear to politicians, media moguls, and newspeople that we're hip to the scam, and we're not buying it anymore. There's a lot of power in handwritten snail mail. First of all, the powers that be in power respect the numbers. Each piece of mail they receive represents thousands of e-mails, they figure. Secondly, it's an opportunity to "get personal," not in an insulting way but in a poignant way.
What could happen if those in power were repeatedly exposed to heartfelt messages from clear and courageous Americans, not angry but firm? With photos. That would mean a website where people could post their letters before sending, so even if Senators and media moguls didn't read them, everyone else would. It's easy to imagine people getting together with their twenty best friends and having an evening gathering to write letters together -- using art to appropriately focus emotion. It might even become habit-forming.
Meanwhile, the letters to news media can be focused and staggered -- one week for Fox, one for CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC and MSNBC. Some should specifically cultivate and support allies like Keith Olbermann and Bill Moyers, offering story ideas. The letters should focus on the media failing America and how to make up for it by balancing the coverage and putting those dissenting generals on the news shows. If not, then not putting them on becomes the issue, and the pressure intensifies. Various members of our board of notables begin making phone calls to the CEOs of these companies, and if nothing else, that gets in the papers.
3. A General Strike, or Something Even Better. There is even the suggestion in Harpers Magazine of using election day this year to declare a General Strike. This is an intriguing idea, but the Swami says, "Let's throw them a curve, and have a general ball instead!" In other words, instead of acting like we are a protesting minority, understand that we are in the majority, and use the day to celebrate awakened citizens from across the political spectrum coming together to proclaim government of, by and for the people where the government does our bidding, not the bidding of the highest bidder. We need to gather at every city hall and local public meeting place on this day and declare together that we the people are no longer willing to be divided and conquered by our misleaders.
Is this possible? Can we do it? We humans are usually pretty good responding to an emergency once we realize there is one. We've been shamelessly and shamefully manipulated into responding to the wrong emergency, and now we must "emerge 'n see" the truth that united we stand, and divided we fall. This means Americans with different opinions coming together to declare their support for rule by law, peace when possible, and freedom at home. These are the core values 75% to 90% of us stand for, and if we can't stand together and hold our own government to that -- well, maybe we humans deserve to flunk third dimension.
To reiterate what I think is the most important point, intention strengthens will, and will finds a way. If we can stop "politics as usual" long enough to gather "under one big intent" the organizations and structures needed will make themselves known. Believe me, this is in the works. Meanwhile, begin to hold the dual intentions of freedom at home and peace abroad, and add your energy and momentum to anything that moves that agenda along. For example, there is now a petition circulating -- inspired by a similar letter by retired air force Captain Robert Bowman. Afterdowningstreet.org now has a letter signed by various luminaries from Thom Hartmann to Willie Nelson "instructing" our troops not to participate in an attack against Iran. At the very, very least we can get behind this move and make sure it hits the major news outlets.
So ... your feedback and ideas are welcome. If there is a way you would like to participate, if there is an organization you have that would get behind this, please let me know. This is not a time to hang back and hope that a political savior will save us next November. We have met the savior, and it is us. The best way to insure retaking the country is to do it before the 2008 election. Right now, the powers that be in power have control over the two lame choices we get. It's up to us to let them know we're not buying those choices, and we have a different agenda, one that represents the true and awakening heart and soul of America.
Steve Bhaerman is a writer, humorist and uncommontator who's been posing as cosmic comic Swami Beyondananda for the past 20 years. As the Swami, Steve is the author of four books including his latest, Swami for Precedent: A 7-Step Plan to Heal the Body Politic and Cure Electile Dysfunction. His website is www.wakeuplaughing.com.
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| a 50-million-strong blow-job? Or maybe if enough people blew in the opposite direction, the ruling class would sit up and take notice. Imagine if 50 million ''observers'' showed up at this convention: by delia (0 articles, 43 comments) on Saturday, October 6, 2007 at 3:40:37 PM
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| GLOBAL movement, more grassrootz, more creative, more info Inclusive versus exclusive, creative versus same old, same old ... We are the change in the world we want to see!! "I'm crazy, you're crazy, they're crazier .." Simeon Toko One thing that has bothered me since the new "movement"'s inception is lack of GLOBAL focus - a movement is needed that is not so AMERICOCENTRIC, as that is part and parcel of the old meme. This does not mean going in and finding some token front person. Too much of the movement has been dedicated (and perhaps subconsciously) to handing over our power to organizations that are personality dominated. Hence it is easy to say that "leaders" are mic hogs or attention whores .. or whatever .. as the inevitable backlash comes back and then precious energy gets wasted propping up said leaders instead of broadening the base of support for our organizations. I think it is HIGH time for some of the leaders to step away from the mic .. it's holding people BACK. Instead, focus on creating new forms of media - OpEd News is certainly one of a new form of media, but we need radio stations, even a TV station beaming back REAL news from around the Globe, 24/7. In organizing terms, the energy has gone towards building what is know as "technocracies" - groups rallied around so-called experts. Ex CIA people, scholars (!!!), mothers of dead soldiers who devote full time attention to the "movement" has been The Movement's wont rather than focussing on grassroots methods of organizing that have been shown to work over time; these grasssrootz organizations cannot be shredded as easily. To a certain extent, the reason we are so fond of OpEd News is that this nearly as close to a grassroots organization as has arisen .... but the CONTENT is AMERICOCENTRIC continually. I know good hearted people who do nothing all day but read the Oh! Woe is me! opeds that crop up on the internet, never once pausing to read material being generating in a HOST of other countries. This is so totally imbalanced and impolitic these days. The more global types of organizations have faltered and fallen in my opinion for at least two identifiable reasons. First, they tend to be male dominated and women are regularly silenced or not taken seriously. Whenever I get some points made in a group, OUT I GO so that Mr. "enlightened" liberal stays ON TOP. (and that is why I continue to love Rob Kall and will support what he does; I am GRATEFUL. He is truly a GROWING individual. He has a lot to teach the HACKS out there, who are legion.) We live in a world of TRANSNATIONALS, and a rapid concentration of capital "assets" ripped off indigneous peoples. These ripped off people's have PLENTY to say about fighting back and yet people tend to ignore what they have to show and teach us. The most excellent paper I have read during the last three years was written by Dr. Michael Yellowbird at the University of Kansas, a discussion paper to say native peoples should cease and desist from fighting in wars. I managed through a network to get this paper disseminated in Australia and New Zealand to every single major aborinal communities, WARRIOR communities as well as get it into the hands of every Parliamentarian in OZ and NZ. At the time I did, I wondered would anyone else do that? Make sure it didn't stay with America's shores? Our organizations stay only as healthy as WE ourselves focus on true service, service undertaken for the good of ALL so we can rise above pettiness and status considerations, which I see just rife in the groups I am in or have left. Anyone who reads OpEd News for a period of time knows that I push the use of art and creativity continually. That's what WE have and the choke hold of the fascists lacks. That's why we waste our efforts on things like debating Hilary Clinton's campaign, choosing between the lesser of evils!! (I don't, but other people who claim to be Ghadhi-ites do ..) We COULD be out there doing one little creative act a day, with dedication, until it just all mounts up -- that's what American Indian Injustice group does! And it WORKS. There are 700 individuals who get involved when an active alert is sounded. IMHO, we must reach out higher and FURTHER .. and include every brother and sister in our organizations. I am on one news group made up of Canada, US and Ontario citizens and I love the discussions because there is way more depth to them. The Canadian and UK contingents are more diverse (and I've asked at least one of them to come to OpEd and post his fantastic views, to share his unique insights.) For myself, the one single unifying issue is the use of low level radiation issue. It affects us ALL. The information on its effects is being SUPRESSED!! Last year the Low Level Radiation campaign released a minority report from a major study that is totally SHOCKING!! without this information NO ONE NO WHERE is operating from an informed position. So I put together a long (but not THAT long) chain letter and asked people to circulate it an important document to show others. One friend of mine put together important youtube videos on aspects of low level radiation that are MUST SEE and included them in my posting. Anyone reading this I implore you to take this information and put it in other people's hands!! Read it and have your feelings and get to work!! by then passing it on in anyway you can. Here's a postcard Eileen Danemann put out. I am personally hacking away every day on my blog which has a GLOBAL focus, and I also am building a website for earthlings anonymous. I live on disability and running a yahoo research group, doing my blog, writing for OpEd News (although I did some posts in New Zealand this year on interventionISM and recovery from trauma) and getting enough people together to start an INTERNATIONAL website is all I can personally do. But it is what I do ... My blog has over 1400 items devoted to planetary healing we are ALL suffering PTSD and TRAUMA. I cannot run the large a list of tags, so it must be accessed by putting topics in the blog search box - I direct my 5th chakra energies (100%!) into a daily effort and I Invite people to use at a resource continually - it gets read by right wingers constantly and I am aware of that and write accordingly. Spy agencies, foreign governments, the military - they ALL read it! But the progressives? Forget it! They don't want to re-educate themselves yet seems to me, because it takes finding what we all have in common, rather than focussing on our differences and getting with a DAILY Program of Recovery ... we've all been done in by counterintel pro, psyops, agitprop ... The focus must move to RECOVERY !! My blog is my attempt to create a HUGE POSTER for recovery .. and I still have another 3000 items to put on it!! The problem is, as it is for many thinking outside "the box" is I don't have resources to take things ever further and get some HELP! I think I have a plan .. I set up a google group to start a beehive of dialogue on the use of art to catapault the use of OUR propoganda. I announced it here at OpEd News. No one came! No one. I can say that I am "wrong" or I can say the time was NOT right, or . but I still think that massive GLOBAL art demos are the wave of the future . ones that bypass appealing to a deaf, insane, bought off, over lobbied CONGress. Target dates to do mass GLOBAL mails into DC are possible; days to make noise everywhere on the planet can be set. The old methods are truly the best - shout, scream, make noise, the things man did before Big Pharma and the deliberate creation of dysfunction and diseases ... Our PRESENCE must be felt and the best way to do this is to be totally present each and every single day, beaming our intentions and then DOING what we must do. But it AIN'T gonna change by creating a network of only "this" woman should be listened to, or only "That" guy has credentials to know what he is talking about ... and we must start paying attention to what indigenous people trying to leader us to .. a more fair society for ALL. Here's a link to inspiration from Evo Morales ... |
May 31, 2007
| 26.05.2007 00:22:00 |
| A COLONIAL STORY |
| DOGS DAY AFTERNOON MNN. May 25, 2007. The colonists keep saying we and our ways are finished! They are 3rd generation immigrants who think they belong on Turtle Island keep trying to find ways to force us to join them and to be pawns in their games. Even after killing off over 100 million of us, we and our memories are still alive. Let's compare. There are two kinds of dogs. There are wild dogs that are free and part of the "natural world". They have the memory of running, playing and exploring vast territories. Then there are “domesticated” dogs, those pampered pooches that wait for the sound of the can opener so they can beg for their bacon. They won’t turn against their masters even when abused and beaten by them. They just keep wagging their tails harder and harder trying to be liked. It’s a kind of “wife” syndrome. They can’t even shit where they want. If it wasn’t for “pooper scoopers”, they’d be extinct. Today most dogs are domesticated and tied up. If they are let loose, watch out! They’re angry. They go crazy and they’re dangerous. Some don’t know what to do because there are no rules or enforcers for them. They just lie down and die. Sometimes the natural dogs try to break the kennel chains and invite them to “come run with us, doggie”. The domestics are trained to stay in the yard. Some get away and enjoy freedom. Some are too old and beaten down even though freedom feels good. The domestic dogs have litters that are content, well behaved and bred to live with chains on them. The master goes to dog shows and says, “I have a proven method to make them subservient”. They talk about new dog foods, new breeds, better security fencing, muzzles, the future of their kennels and the problem about those “wild” dogs that are giving their dogs complexes. They come up with ideas to get rid of the wild dogs. “Let's kill them all”. They really want to trek out onto their territory to expand their kennels. They try to breed the wild ones with the domestics. They are the authorities on how dogs are supposed to act. They surmise that those wild ones are not dogs at all. So what are they? Maybe they’re wolves! This story has something to tell us. It shows the underside of the thinking of the people who invaded Turtle Island. They saw us as people living in the natural world who operated by keeping our instincts intact. We functioned well and reproduced ourselves. Living within our environment we were safe, could not be attacked and could protect ourselves and our young. After the invasion, some of our people were forced into the cage that the white people brought with them from Europe. 1500 years of what they call “civilization” in Europe [not including Egypt] developed a system of control where everybody except the oligarchy lived in boxes. Their minds were controlled. After a while they could not think freely. When they came here and saw us, they were envious of and perplexed by our freedom and our ability to think for ourselves. This was something they would never dream of doing. Some thought, “Hey! We want some of that too”. Some thought we were the devil. So they decided to bring us under their control, study us and try to become like us. At the same time, they tried to take away the very thing they envied most. One of our pastimes is to watch them watching us trying to figure us out. We operate from a deep knowledge of who we are. It is spontaneous, not contrived, not controlled. It expresses itself in freedom of the mind. We do not identify ourselves in relation to the materialistic world around us. The Six Nations people who are taking back our lands on the Haldimand Tract do not want money. We want our land and our freedom. This is something the colonizers can’t understand. The non-native way requires “touchstones” of material things around them as a base for their identity. They’re always talking about “my car”, “my house”, “my wife”, “my tv”, “my cd player”, “my Blackberry”, “my kids”, “my vacation”, “my”, “my”, “my”, “my”, “my”! They can only tell who they are by what they own. Some colonists come out and try to romp around with us and act free. They become confused and revert back to re-attaching themselves to their material possessions. Rules, regulation and government are all set up to reinforce this. Our identity comes from our being tuned in to the world around us. When the food we eat is proper and nutritious, we function quite well. When the “visitors” force us into their cage, they want to control what we eat, how we speak, dress and think. This almost kills us. Why are the visitors so envious of us? They covet something we have, besides our land and resources. It’s a natural human instinct to want freedom. Equality and freedom evolved out of the Onkwehonweh’s mind. The world is trying to emulate our democratic form of government known as the Great Law of Peace. The leadership is the servant, not the dictator. Their role is to help people be free and to work for the common good of all. We are part of the natural world and live with the environment. Our visitors brought an artificial environment here which we refuse to adapt to. We are watching their false environment starting to expire. They’re destroying nature. Soon the earth will be in such bad shape, no one will be able to survive. They fear us because they’re afraid of the unknown. They are like the dog that has been domesticated. He can only survive when his master is there to tell him what to do. Like the bears in Jasper National Park, who come in from the wild, the tourists are destroying them. They throw scraps and garbage at them to eat. They lose their instincts to survive in the wilds and become dependent. The bears are losing their eyesight, become overweight, sick and mentally chemically imbalanced. Sound like anyone you know? When they have been taken out of their natural habitat, they become domesticated and dangerous. This was the plan for us, to remove us from our natural state, bring us into the cage so we could lose our bearings and our natural ability to survive as we were meant to. They looked through the bars of heir cages at us running around free. They became jealous, “We have to pull them in here with us”. They convinced themselves they’re perfect and their system is the best. They think the cage is the only way people should live. Large urban areas in Canada are prime examples of this. The developers are placing condos, houses and apartment buildings inches apart. They’re eliminating yards and green spaces. They are actually promoting this as a conservation measure that prevents urban sprawl! They want to push more people onto smaller pieces of land for higher prices. They want us all to live in boxes stacked on top of each other. What the hell kind of life is this? Is t his what we’re put on the earth for? When our people move in from our natural environment into cities, many wind up sleeping alongside the Don Valley Parkway or on the street. We are showing that we cannot function in these unnatural cages that white people think they are comfortable in. The settlers are envious that we can still live and be happy in the natural environment. They think that once a year for a week they’re Indians when they go to the parks with their RVs and campers. They bring along their televisions, cell phones, computers, and battery operated vacuum cleaners. Of course, they would not want to live our reality – the one they created for us - bad water, confinement and social problems. In the great scoop of the 1960s, our babies were raised in middle class white society. Some adoptive parents got a $20,000 incentive grant to take our children. Until about age 13, the Onkwehonweh was quiet and tried to fit in. When they hit puberty, a time when youngsters are striving for an identity, their natural instincts for survival kicked in. The relationship between them and their adoptive parents broke down. This led them to find their own people. Somehow when they are with their own people they become sane again. They innately want their freedom. That is what the world wants and seeks too. White society is fearful that this desire for freedom might infect their kids. Control freaks fear losing their control. Something’s missing. They want to destroy the very thing they envy most. It’s sad. How do we cure this disease? They can’t allow us to be ourselves. We have to go around wearing masks to hide our faces, our feelings and our true identity. In the past our people told us what was coming. They saw these ships coming to bring over some strange people. They would try to seduce us to change and become like them. Our ancestors told us, “No”. That is why all the treaties were meant to keep our peoples and our cultures apart from them. The Two Row Wampum agreement between us provided that the white man’s ship shall remain separate from our canoe. We would travel in parallel paths with everything that belongs to us. We cannot become part of them as it is destructive. They violated this agreement by kidnapping our young people and putting them in residential schools. They beat and molested them like they beat and molested their own children, or worse. Their policy was, “We want you to be like us, subservient to authority and in every other way”. Every time an Onkwehonweh child ran away, trying to go back to their natural community, they sent the police and search dogs to find and bring them back to the residential schools. They told them, “This is where you belong. To survive, you have to become like us”. They were really saying, “We cannot allow you to spread that disease of freedom. It will destroy our whole civilization”. In the colonists’ way there is a lord and master that dictates everything that people do. They cannot have their own mind. They have to be dominated. They think the alternative to hierarchy is chaos. So they set out to crush the spirit of freedom in the minds of the Onkwehonweh and inkling of it in their own people. For their own sake, instead of destroying and controlling us, the colonists have to set us free and give us back what is ours. We are not greedy for this freedom. We want to share it with everybody. That’s what the Tree of Peace is all about. Kahentinetha & Katenies MNN Mohawk Nation News Orakwa@paulcomm.ca & katenies20@yahoo.com For updates, workshops, speakers, to sign up, go to: www.mohawknationnews.com Please sign the Women Title Holders petition. |
