Thursday, Nikolas Cruz was sentenced to Life in prison without parole for the 17 murders on Valentine’s Day, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.  A good summary article from CNN is here.

Three members of the Jury declined to vote for the Death Penalty, permitted under Florida Law.  This has led to outrage.  I’m not surprised that there was not unanimity on the death sentence.

The post-decision outrage was predictable. Cruz committed a heinous crime.

I think the Life Without Parole was equally predictable.  Three people, for whatever reasons, did not believe that state imposition of death on the perpetrator was an appropriate penalty.

I’m wasn’t on the Jury, of course.  Had I been in that room, I doubt that I could have signed on to Death, particularly since the penalty of Life in Prison had already been agreed upon.

Vengeance – ‘an eye for an eye’ – seems a default response to actions such as the one carried out by Nikolas Cruz and his companion, an AR-15.  So does Life in Prison.  If memory serves, Cruz wants to die.  Odds are that his life span in prison will not be normal for someone his age.

Of course, Cruz’s gun and its millions of companions go unpunished in any way, free to commit the next carnage someplace.  We have blinders on.

Life in Prison is unproductive, as were things like Debtors Prison in olden days.  It solves nothing.

Restorative Justice seems to be a useful concept to really learn about.  The identified link seems to be a useful portal for beginning.

Another place to learn is The Forgiveness Project.

I personally know people in both Restorative Justice and The Forgiveness Project.   At minimum, take time to learn.

Neither concept is easy, but the alternatives – vengeance and lifelong incarceration – are not good alternatives for either the convicted or the society which did the convicting.

What Cruz did was a heinous crime.  Do we solve anything by piling on?  Similarly, do we solve anything by not calling to account the kind of weapons which made his carnage possible?  In Cruz’ case, the accomplice was a legally purchased AR-15.

POSTNOTE: I’ll always remember seeing the then-new film, Dead Man Walking, in 1996.  It is still available on-line, and worth the time.

I spared neither time nor expense for my artwork.  Four weeks from today is “all she wrote”…and voting is only part of the citizens duty.  Know who you’re voting for, and support them in the many ways you can in the next weeks.  Nov. 9 is too late.

Here is the portal for Information, again: Information for a Minnesota voter can be seen here (our early voting began on Sep 23).  National information here.  NBC has a Plan Your Vote site as well.

For folks who live in the same community I do: SD 47.  (The link is the local Democrat website.)

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Other notes:

January 6 Select Committee hearing will broadcast on Thursday, October 13.  Information here.

Thursday evening Citizens for Global Solutions MN, of which I’m an active member, is having a Zoomcast 7-8:30 p.m. Central time, with Helen Jaccard of the VFP Golden Rule project.  All information is here, including link to the film about the history of the Golden Rule.

Monday evening Rachel Maddow presented the first two segments of her podcast on pre-WWII seditious conspiracy in the United States.  I have not yet watched it, but I plan to. It is powerful, given in context with today.  Here is the link.

Upcoming at this space, I’m working on a post simply entitled Jesus.  I hope you take a look.  Tentatively it will be online on Saturday morning, October 15.

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Finally, I never ask for money, and the following is no exception, but an invitation.

This is the 4th year I’ve made a relatively major gift to the local public broadcasting outlet, TPT.  I will be mailing my donation at the end of next week.  If you wish to participate, send me a check, minimum $10, made out to TPT, and I’ll include it with the donation.  Send to me so I receive it before the end of October, Dick Bernard, Box 25384, Woodbury MN 55125.  Alternatively, contribute to your own public broadcasting outlet.

Public Broadcasting was one of the best ideas ever conceived in this country.  Here’s a timeline.

Thank you.

At Dowling Community Garden, Minneapolis, October 11, 2022

Today was a magnificent day in our town, and I had 15 minutes before a meeting at a colleagues home in south Minneapolis, so I stopped by the Dowling Garden that literally borders his property.  This was a Minnesota Fall scene, unaltered.  Past prime but still beautiful.  Dowling is a treasure, residue of WWII Victory Gardens.

COMMENTS (more at end of post):

from Steve, re Golden Rule: For a few weeks I was active with the “Golden Rule” even sailed from Red Wing to Winona.

from Jim: By coincidence Nenita and I were at Dowling garden 3 hours this morning planting a garlic crop.  It is covered with straw and will be harvested next June.

from Chuck: Oct 16 is World Food Day!  It seems making sure people are fed…would be among the top of the Golden Rules. ?

 In 1980 a bipartisan Presidential Commission concluded and its commissioners specifically warned …“The most potentially explosive force in the world today is the frustrated desire of poor people to attain a decent standard of living. The anger, despair, and often hatred that result represent real and persistent threats to international order… Neither the cost to national security of allowing malnutrition to spread nor the gain to be derived by a genuine effort to resolve the problem can be predicted or measured in any precise, mathematical way. Nor can monetary value be placed on avoiding the chaos that will ensue unless the United States and the rest of the world begin to develop a common institutional framework for meeting such other critical global threats… Calculable or not, however, this combination of problems now threatens the national security of all countries just as surely as advancing armies or nuclear arsenals.”

They also stated “that promoting economic development in general, and overcoming hunger in particular, are tasks far more critical to the U.S. national security than most policymakers acknowledge or even believe. Since the advent of nuclear weapons, most Americans have been conditioned to equate national security with the strength of strategic military forces. The Commission considers this prevailing belief to be a simplistic illusion. Armed might represents merely the physical aspect of national security. Military force is ultimately useless in the absence of the global security that only coordinated international progress toward social justice can bring.”

Today’s world is experiencing the consequences of ignoring this commission’s warnings. It specifically warned of increases in “diseases”, “international terrorism”, “war”, “environmental problems” and “other human rights problems” (refugees, genocide, human trafficking…).

Combined, these global pressures have fueled the anti-democratic populist movements thriving today.  Independent governments’ “self-interests” can no longer be more important than humanity’s potential to thrive and survive in the face of these accelerating threats.

Dozens of other prestigious, bipartisan studies and academic reports have followed since that 1980 report. Each clearly documents the direct and indirect links between world hunger, human rights violations, global instability, and the growing array of other threats to our freedoms, nation’s security, economy, and political stability.

I  believe our failure to make the protection of human rights and our environment superior to the protection of national sovereignty and corporate power is the primary driver of accelerating chaos.   The chaos that elections will not stop or even lessen.   Our systems of government are failing us.  Without transforming these systems to prioritize “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” there is not enough money in the world to address all the suffering that’s coming directly linked to so many unsustainable local and global trends that are reactionary in nature, and not preventive.

Preventing these accelerating trends will require a comprehensive global action plan.  An affordable and achievable plan exists today:  the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  No organization has yet taken a leadership role in building a Movement of Movements needed to bring all progress-focused organizations and movements together.   Time is not on our side. The evolution of pathogens, weapons, war, corruption, environmental distresses, and growing economic disparities and debt are outpacing our will to voluntarily change our governing systems. This is literally…globally unsustainable.  Leadership on this is urgently needed.   Which organization will rise to the occasion?

Saturday evening we watched the new film Elvis.  I’d give it high marks, worth the time, if you have any interest whatsoever in “The King”.

There were three of us a”in the house” literally.  Son-in-law Don came over and joined us.

There are a great plenty of reviews and others personal experiences about Elvis Presley – I thought I’d recall the few intersections of my own life as a country kid with his career.

I was a junior in high school when he hit the big time early in 1956, with Heartbreak Hotel.  We lived in the country, literally, in southeast North Dakota.  Television was months in our future.  There was TV then, of course, but in places like ours transmission of signals was iffy at best and I can’t say I ever saw television until September of 1956.

There was AM radio, but even that was not for casual use.  Somehow or other, though, I do remember hearing that first hit.  There seemed to be something that stuck.  I don’t recall any photos or such.  It was just a voice on a record played over the radio.

Somehow I connect Elvis with Brylcreem (“a little dab will do yah” – never enough), and with ducktail haircuts and sideburns and blue suede shoes.  I overdid the Brylcreem; but no ducktail, sideburns or blue suede shoes.

The next contact was in Valley City, North Dakota.  I was doorman at the Omwick Theatre in 1960-61, and during my time there, Elvis’ Blue Hawaii and GI Blues were big hits.  I saw only bits and pieces – I was working – but there was certainly plenty of customers for the shows.

From then on, Elvis became “The King of rock and roll”, and most everyone old enough knows that story.

Then came the day in August, 1977, when breaking news was that Elvis was dead, at age 42.  Even though I was the most casual of fans, for some reason his death is on the list of deaths I remember, including where I was when….

In December of 1977, son Tom and I joined my sister and her family and we drove south to visit Mom and Dad in Texas.  Enroute, we drove through Memphis and went to Graceland, just to see it.  At the time, shortly after his death, there wasn’t much going on.  No souvenirs or even a photo to present evidence of having been there – but we certainly were there.

Life goes on, and the legend lives on.  Elvis impersonators are still a draw, and some are pretty good.

I’m struck by the common thread, though, of many celebrities like Elvis, and other young performers, who hit it big, early, and died young for various reasons.

We sort of eat our celebrities alive.  And fame has its down side.

Still, the film Elvis is worth the time.  If you haven’t seen it, I think you’ll enjoy it.

POSTNOTE: Today’s generation of young people cannot imagine a time when communication was still rather primitive.  As noted above, we had no television till 1956; radio was AM only, and our family had one radio, perhaps in the country you might be able to access two or three stations, and to my recollection we had no car radio.  And that was it.  Media began to expand in the 1960s, and exploded in the 2000’s.

In addition to Elvis, by the end of the 1950s I’d heard enough Buddy Holly to be able to say I liked his music.  But “the day the music died” in February 3, 1959, I was a sophomore in college 60 miles away from Holly’s concert venue, and I really don’t remember even knowing the concert was going on.  It was a different time.

POSTNOTE 2: Country legend Loretta Lynn died on October 4 at age 90.  Here is her website.  Our local PBS station pre-empted its normal program for an American Masters film on Loretta.  It was a great retrospective, we’d highly recommend.  Check with your local PBS station for information.

We saw Loretta perform once, in her later years, at a concert at Mystic Lake, October 25, 2008.  It was an evening very well spent.

POSTNOTE: from the Saturday Minneapolis Star Tribune, here.

PRENOTE:  Today early voting begins in Minnesota.  Any information for a Minnesota voter can be seen here.  National information here.  NBC has a Plan Your Vote site as well.

I will post about the upcoming election, likely on Mon. Sep. 26.

More about Golden Rule at Watergate Marina St. Paul at end of this post.

Sign received at Twin City Nonviolent gathering, Minneapolis, Sep 21

The following Nuclear Weapons message was shared with me by Amy Blumenshine, one of my blog readers, Sept. 23, 2022.    At the beginning she refers to two prior posts, one linked to the other here.  My comments are at the end of this post.

Amy: “Thank you for your very helpful essays.  I’m writing to request that you consider submitting LTE’s [Letter to Editor] to the regional papers within the next week promoting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and educating the public on what they may not know.  I’m part of the local “Back from the Brink” campaign effort (link here) and we’ve just learned that the St. Paul City Council has it on their agenda for next week. Minneapolis passed it in December without any media attention and we yearn for more education to occur with this event.   [The resolution is at the end of this post.]

You’ve written much about this so I wonder if you could revise one of your essays into an LTE form for the moment.  Thanks for your consideration!

Below are some of my points.

Most Americans don’t know that 122 countries voted for the TPNW — a workable, verifiable framework for eliminating WMD [weapons of mass destruction]— the best opportunity to rid the world of these devices we’ve had.  That most of our “enemy” states with nukes have expressed interest in supporting the TPNW. 

That we are no closer to effective storage of nuclear waste now than at the beginning of the effort (just a number of ideas have been ruled out — For instance burying in a mountain depends on having containment vessels that work over eons.)  And Americans have already suffered and died from the process involved in mining and producing nukes.

Most people don’t know that the US is planning to spend over $1.7 T to “modernize” the armaments, essentially rebuilding them to make them more “useable.” But even these smaller bombs will be more powerful than the ones the US dropped on Japan.  Of course, the army defending our target would have no way of determining the size of the bomb coming at them.  So, if they have a similar “hair-trigger” launch system of rapid launch as has been reported operated by the US, a potentially overwhelming annihilation would be triggered.  The smoke from the fires caused by a nuclear explosion would trigger a global  famine of many years.  While the current “upgrade” is budgeted at $1.7 T, everyone knows that it will be higher.  Meanwhile, the citizens of St. Paul alone sent over $66 Million in 2021 out of our economy just for nuclear weapons. 

About our current Nuclear Posture Review (the Biden one is expected in 2022)

 United States is ready to use nuclear weapons first in an alarmingly wide range of scenarios. It remains “the policy of the United States to retain some ambiguity regarding the precise circumstances” that might lead to a nuclear response. The United States reserves the right to unleash nuclear weapons first in “extreme circumstances” to defend the “vital interests” not only of the United States but also of its “allies and partners” — a total of some 30 countries. “Extreme circumstances,” the review states explicitly, include “significant non-nuclear attacks,” including conventional attacks on “allied or partner civilian population or infrastructure.” The United States also maintains a “portion of its nuclear forces” on daily alert, with the option of launching those forces “promptly.”..

Not just preparing to commit unspeakable evil but also doing evil in the mining, production, evil preparations and failing to adequately feed our kids.  Bankrupts us economically and spiritually. Reinforces callous disregard for life.  Promotes American exceptionalism and might makes right.

Further we live with the anxiety every time the sirens sound of imminent annihilation, which indeed could have been triggered by rogue leaders or accident. 

And while nukes are definitely omnicidal, they are actually obsolete. No one can guarantee that a missile shot from North Dakota might not be hacked to land here {Minnesota].  Each nuclear weapon is actually a target for the missiles from the opposing side.  A nuclear armed sub was just in a serious accident in an undisclosed location near China. 

And, of course, there is no effective oversight of where the money goes in this program.  Military defense contractors spend huge amounts on lobbying and nearly every one has paid settlements when caught cheating.”

Proposed Resolution

WHEREAS, nine nations collectively have approximately 13,100 nuclear weapons in their arsenals, most of which are far more destructive than those that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945; and 

WHEREAS, the detonation of even a small number of these weapons could have catastrophic human and environmental consequences that could affect everyone on the planet; and

WHEREAS, the United States maintains several hundred nuclear missiles in underground silos on hair-trigger alert, capable of being launched within minutes after a presidential order, which greatly increases the risk of an accidental, mistaken or unauthorized launch; and

WHEREAS, the United States continues to reserve the right to use nuclear weapons first, which reduces the threshold for nuclear use and makes a nuclear war more likely; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. president has the sole and unchecked authority to order the use of nuclear weapons; and

WHEREAS, the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and recent racial justice uprisings have highlighted the need for greater investment in our healthcare system and our communities; and 

WHEREAS, over the next 30 years, the United States plans to spend an estimated $1.7 trillion to replace its entire nuclear arsenal and the bombers, missiles and submarines that deliver them with more capable, more usable versions; and

WHEREAS, taxpayers spend over $2 million every hour of every day to maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal [That number is just shy of $5 million an hour, now.  It’s based off the per minute number that ICAN released, which is about $84,000 a minute]; and

WHEREAS, Residents of Saint Paul pay an estimated $65,994,272.19 each year to pay for our nuclear arsenal, and if this funding was instead added to the city budget could be used to support the building of approximately to 660 desperately needed new affordable housing units; and

WHEREAS, a grassroots movement called “Back from the Brink: Bringing Communities Together to Abolish Nuclear Weapons” has been endorsed by over 400 health, environmental, academic, peace, faith, and justice organizations and has resulted in resolutions approved by over 50 municipalities, including the cities of Los Angeles, Baltimore, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Washington DC, as well as the states of California and Oregon; and

WHEREAS, the United States, as well as Britain, China, France and Russia, are obligated under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to take concrete steps toward eliminating their nuclear arsenals; and

WHEREAS, in July 2017, 122 nations approved the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force on January 22, 2021 making it illegal under international law to develop, test, produce, manufacture, or otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices; and

WHEREAS, on September 25, 2022, the Golden Rule ship was scheduled to visit St Paul as part of their Great Loop Voyage through efforts by the group Veterans For Peace; and

WHEREAS, Veterans For Peace aims to advance opposition to nuclear weapons and war by their efforts which include the recovery and restoration of the original peace ship, the Golden Rule, that set sail in 1958 to stop nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands, and which inspired the many peace makers and peace ships that followed; and

WHEREAS, the reborn Golden Rule is sailing once more, to show that nuclear abolition is possible, and that bravery and tenacity can overcome militarism, and was docked in Saint Paul at Watergate Marina on September 25, 2022 to raise awareness for their efforts; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, the City of Saint Paul calls on the United States to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by:______

Personal Comment, Dick Bernard: The Golden Rule sailboat previously appearing at this page is witness to the insanity of the Nuclear threat (see Sept 12, 16 and 19 for related posts).  There will be a family event at Crosby Farm Park in St. Paul at 11:30-2:30 Sunday afternoon, Sep. 25.  Complete twin cities schedule is here: Golden Rule Sep 2022.

I was 5 years old when Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened, Aug 6 and 9, 1945.  I was a teenager during the 1950s, when the Cold War was raging, and my home state of North Dakota was being pockmarked with missile silos to do battle with the Soviet Union.  It was a little abstract, I admit – I was a kid – but we got with the program with drills of what to do if the bomb dropped.  It was naive then, and still naive.  An assumption was made that a missile fired by either side would actually reach its designated target, and that going into the basement would save you if you were under the bomb. There still remains the naïveté, for certain.  We seem never to learn.

As I write, Putin is drafting Russian men to put Ukraine in its proper subservient place; and threatening without saying so directly that the nuclear is on the menu of choices of weapons.  And of course, nuclear plants in the Ukraine are also possible accidental or on-purpose targets (Chernobyl is in Ukraine).

Long ago the nuclear option was correctly labeled Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).  I think the powers that be on all sides – the ones with the nukes – know this, and know it far better than the average person.  But the most powerful weapon of all is using the threat of nuclear to foster fear among the peasants – all of us.

I hope the Golden Rule succeeds in amplifying the national conversation, and that this blog, and the person who sent me the above information, is part of it.

You can do your part, small and large.  If you have an opportunity, stop over to see the Golden Rule on Sunday 11:30 – 2:30 in St. Paul.  Bon Voyage!

Golden Rule Sep 2022, likely at Hudson WI on the St. Croix River

Much more information about the Golden Rule and its project here.  Peace in the Park Family Day at Crosby Farm Park at Watergate Marina, off Shepard Rd, St. Paul, 11:30 – 2:30 Sunday, Sept 25.

COMMENTS:

from Brian: Great stuff, thanks for sharing.   Even as a kid growing up in San Antonio, in grade school I remember asking my mother why did  Pres. Truman drop two atom bombs on Japanese cities?