Seriously….

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Pre-Note: I’d highly recommend the upcoming activities of Twin Cities Nonviolent, including Golden Rule and Peacestock.  Details are here.  Those in Twin Cities, specifically note the activity for International Day of Peace on Wed., September 21, 4 p.m.  (The site on Wednesday is proximate to the Longfellow Grill, 2990 W River Pkwy  at Lake Street and W. River Parkway, Minneapolis).

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My Sep. 16 post on Golden Rule and the proposed new Military Museum at Camp Ripley, brought some significant comments.  There are only a few comments at the post, and two others follow, as well as my own, but to advocates the variety of perspective give openings for conversation on the crucial issues of War and Peace.

Fr. Harry Bury, who has provided immense energy to Twin Cities Nonviolent, provided some information today which is pertinent to the conversation, from International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.  You can access the site here.

Chuck Woolery’s contribution is the basis of most of the following.  He responds first to the previous post, with “Nukes not worth the worry“.

I’ve known Chuck for quite a number of years, and those five words are not the whole of his story, not by any means.

He follows those words with a September 15 commentary by David Ignatius of The Washington Post, titled “Will deterrence have a role in the cyberspace ‘forever war’?”  The entire column is here: Forever War David Ignatius Sep 15 22.  The column is well worth your time.

On the other hand, the purpose of the Golden Rule, as I understand it, is to remember and remind all of us about the deadly and dangerous Nuclear issue, front and center from Hiroshima and Nagasaki through the Cold War, and once again to nuclear in the very near proximity to the Putin led activity against Ukraine.  Ignatius notes we’ve managed to mostly cage the nuclear beast since 1945  but it’s still there.

Golden Rule says we must never forget what man wrought with nuclear as it embarks on its monumental journey….

Following the Ignatius column, Chuck adds his own opinion:

Chuck: “My comment:  Traditional weapons are used up when used. Cyber, biological, and nano technologies can be weaponized and made to be replicable when used.  This single factor changes war profoundly because engineering them are relatively cheap, easy, easy to hide and deliver, reproduce themselves, and they don’t leave a fingerprint or a return address.  This makes them virtually untraceable and useful for anonymous or red flag attacks.  Even framing another nation or violent extremist group as the attacker.   Together the weaponization of these technologies make the cold war concepts of “peace through strength”, and deterrence – obsolete.  Dead!  And ‘forever wars’ a permanent fixture in our lives until humanity gains wisdom to put the protection of human rights and the environment above the protection of national sovereignty and corporations.  AI might gain wisdom and do this before we do.  Until then, Bio and Cyber security are oxymorons.  Security has always been iffy, but these tiny bits of information will continue to be engineered to evade defenses and target specific weaknesses in the living systems and structures, and the cyber systems and structures that modern life depends on.   Things change.  Can we? 

Chuck Woolery, Former Chair
United Nations Association, Council of Organizations.  His blog, 435 campaign, is here.

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Largely, I agree with Chuck.  A few countries, primarily the U.S. and Russia, have large stockpiles of bombs that no one wants to use, for numerous reasons.  But all it takes is one madman, or one mistake.  Nukes have huge consequences, and what they hit depends on whether they actually work as intended.  The ‘bullseye’ can be anyone, anywhere.  A mistake will open the floodgates….

What Chuck doesn’t mention – or else I missed something – is the reality that the death’s door weapons he describes are not deterred by human things like borders, and just go as they go.  As the recent ad campaign for a certain vaccine goes, a virus (or a hurricane, or similar)  “doesn’t care” about why you think you don’t need to care about it.  Covid-19 is only the most recent example.  There are no walls anymore, much to the regret of some who think walls can be built to keep unpleasant things out….  Modern weapons destroy indiscriminately.

To some degree, I am a contrarian about absolutist positions, which might seem to be reflected in support for the new military museum proposal which I companioned with the Golden Rule roll-out in my recent blog.

To me, the two events were not contrasting nor conflicting.  In fact, and much to my surprise, I found out that Mark Ritchie, who invited me to the Arden Hills event, is the chair of the group moving forward the idea, and this is an idea with ‘legs’, attracting much interest.

Mark and I are not strangers.  In fact, he was one of the 27 Charter members  – number 6, actually – of the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers (MAP) when it was founded in 1995.  Later, before I knew him, I was President of MAP.  The local sponsors of the Golden Rule, Veterans for Peace, are also Charter members of MAP – number 5, two days earlier than Mark; indeed it was one of their members, Wayne Wittman, who ‘signed me up’ 20 years ago.

I have never believed in coincidences, and this is one of those occasions where everything seems to align almost perfectly.

Remembering service of veterans, and the dangers of war, and the benefits of peace, are values virtually all of us share.  It seems to me that seemingly dissonant activities represent a perfect opportunity for dialogue and collaboration.

Find some way to actively participate now and going forward.

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Check back every now and then for new posts.  It seems I do one or two a week.  Best check-in point is here.  The most recent post is on the page; the archive section has posts by the month.

“All hands on deck”

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You won’t see an abundance of words in this post, but behind the links are lots of possibilities for action, especially if you have any interest in Peace and Justice Issues.  An earlier post on the Golden Rule, Sep. 12, is here.

Last night (Sep. 15) we were at a great twin cities kickoff for the Golden Rule sailboat, which starts its 1 1/2 year Great Loop Voyage in the Twin Cities through September 30, thence down the Mississippi and onward to the east coast, the Great Lakes, and down river again.  All Twin Cities information is here: Golden Rule Sep 2022.  Sponsoring organization locally is Veterans for Peace #27.  I’m a long-time member.  The local made a substantial financial commitment to bring the project here, and contributions are solicited to the Golden Rule Project.

Helen Jaccard and Captain Kiko, and others, put on a very stimulating program.  Their particular issue is Nuclear.  Follow their link for more.

Helen Jaccard Sep 15, 2022, speaking at Hudson WI

Reference is made to Twin Cities Nonviolent, and to Peacestock 22 in Red Wing.  Their links are included.  I’m also including the Agenda for Peacestock 22, which I attend on occasion: Peacestock22.  I think the first one I attended was Peacestock 2 (then called “Pigstock” because it was sited on a farm in Western Wisconsin.   It is always worthwhile.

Unrelated, but really completely related, was another program I attended the night before Golden Rule.  It was at the Headquarters of Minnesota’s Red Bull Division, and the occasion  was rolling out plans for an expanded museum at Camp Ripley, between Little Falls and Brainerd.

I sometimes puzzle, maybe even exasperate, my peacenik friends, because I am every bit as anti-war as they are, but on the other hand, as they know, I come from a family with a very long history of military service, including myself.   Having said that, my feet are firmly planted on the Peace side: war accomplishes nothing long term (at the same time, as long as there is evil around humanity, there will be war….)

I see no contradiction at all.  Veterans for Peace is full of veterans, these days mostly Vietnam era.  People who served, honorably.  I include in this group, conscientious objectors and protestors, all witnesses, as were the active military, in the contradictions of War as a supposed instrument of Peace.  Everyone is a player.

I will not change the debate here, only I choose to raise the issue!

The speaker at the Camp Ripley event was author Elliott Ackerman, whose first job out of college, in 2003, was U.S. Marines, thence further government service, including five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, through the withdrawal from America’s longest war in Afghanistan in 2021.  He knew the turf, first hand. I had purchased his book prior to his talk, and it is worth the read, regardless of ones point of view.  It is available at bookstores: The Fifth Act, America’s End in Afghanistan.

I thought the talk, in conversation format, was well done.  The biggest audience response by far was Ackerman’s lament about the lack of civility afoot in this country at present.

“Teasing”the Book, each Act is preceded by a brief quotation, as follows:

Act I: President George Bush, Sep 20 2001

Act II: President Barack Obama, Dec 1, 2009

Act III: President Trump, Aug 21, 2017

Act IV: President Biden, Aug 16, 2022

Act V: Taliban Supreme Leader, Oct 31, 2021

I title this post, “All hands on deck” for a simple reason.  If you care, you’ll be there to help sail the ship of our planets survival.  If your gig is peace and justice, there is lot to be considered, here.

COMMENTS:

from Helen, to her list:

It was THRILLING to watch Goldie go back in the water after her big adventure by truck from California to Hudson, Wisconsin.
Here’s the video.
There were SO MANY people who helped in so many ways!
Captain Kiko, Helder Herrera and many others helped get the sails down and booms off.

Captain Kiko and I “undressed” the masts and prepared them for the truck by covering them with carpet.
On the Wisconsin/Minnesota side, we had Captain Kiko, Mary McNellis, Mike McDonald, Dale Opsahl, Craig Wood, Dave Logsdon, Steve Gates, First Mate Steve Buck,  Tom Bauch, Gil Macguire, Justin Farner, Collin Meuller and others who planned events and volunteered at the marina.
We painted the bottom and touched up the top sides andrub rail trim, varnished the pin rails and light bars, and did a lot of work on the masts!  We repaired what was needed and gave the masts and booms a great new paint job.  We had a really great professional get the propeller bent back to perfect shape.
Steve Buck and Gil Macguire are working on the electronics.
In Peace and Friendship,

from Rebecca:  Dick: A very thoughtful piece on peace and military honor as well–no contradiction there. My small group called Vote Climate is doing something for the 12 Days of Nonviolence this year-I will send you something separately on that (Look for it, regarding a Sept 30th–zoom call with Bill McKibben–an eventbrite invite– and, on Oct 1, a live event called “Hands across the Mississippi” at the Lake/Marshall bridge and the Danish Am Ctr at the Westend of that bridge).

The Golden Rule

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The ship is in!

The Golden Rule is docked about 10 miles from where I type, in nearby Hudson WI.  I haven’t gone over to see it yet, but will, probably tomorrow.  Golden Rule has a very long history.  It’s story is told, briefly, in a link below.

The Golden Rule 2022

A special event, sponsored by Veterans for Peace Ch 27, and  open to anyone, anywhere, will be a Zoom gathering on Thursday September 15. beginning 3 p.m.  Register here.  For those on Facebook, the Facebook link is here.  Pre-registration is required, but a very simple process.

The best source of general information about the boat and itinerary it will follow in the next few days and for the next year and a half, as well as its past history, is in the most recent newsletter of the Veterans for Peace Chapter 27.  The newsletter is here.  At page 5&6 of the newsletter is the September schedule in Twin Cities area.

Golden Rule being unhinged in Hudson Wi September 13, 2022 photo from Mary McNellis

RELATED:  Check out the schedule, here, for Twin Cities Nonviolent, from September 21 to October 2, 2022.  And the national program is here,

The 2022 Election is 57 days away.  Do not sit this out.  Get more active than perhaps you have ever been.  This is not a usual election.  Our countries future as a democracy is on the ballot, almost literally.

The Queen

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Pre-note: please take time to review September 6 post here.

Queen Elizabeth II died yesterday at age 96.  Only France’s Louis XIV, who became King at age four, had a longer reign.

I won’t horn in on others territory – the news will be endless.  The Queen was an individual.  Like all of us, she was human.  For all of us, life has a destination.  Of course, she was born on third base, as the saying goes – almost a home run.  But she seemed a very decent human being.

The Queen set a wonderful positive tone for her country for the entirety of her very long reign.  Yes, she’s the matriarch of a family.  All of us know that “family” however defined, is not always a slam dunk.

The most significant statement I’ve heard so far is the importance of the relationship of England and the United States.  It seems a useful reminder to Putin, that a nation that declared its independence does not have to be a permanent enemy….  There were a great plenty of sins committed in the name of the British Empire.  Queen Elizabeth was not the cause.  But the debate will continue.

The above are my only political statements at this time of transition.

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Elizabeth II is already replaced by her son, Charles III, who inherits an impossible job.  The only more or less equivalent to Elizabeth that I know of is the Catholic Pope, who is always elected, not by the people but by his peers, the College of Cardinals.  Of course, I think the British monarch is the “Pope” of the Church of England….

Is the Royal family “German”?  This is what I found out – it seems credible.  It seems the answer is very complicated….  If you have a better source, let me know.

I’m German and French-Canadian by ancestry.  I was born American, and I speak English.  The official languages of Canada are French AND English, an important accommodation made when the English prevailed over France in Quebec, sealed in 1763. I have lots of relatives north of the border. Till 1763, what is now Minnesota was part of French Quebec, you can look it up.  In 1818, the U.S.-Canada border was settled.  North of the border is the Dominion of Canada, still part of the Commonwealth.

(What is the “Commonwealth”?  I found a website that does a pretty good job on who is in the Commonwealth.)

In early November, 2001, we spent a delightful week or so in London, so had a once over of a friendly city, particularly in the wake of 9-11-01.  We saw the sights, including the tourists eye view of Buckingham Palace.  When we were by Buckingham Palace, there few people around.  We were walking distance from most everything else.

Our tour guide in London was a lady I had met in 1982 in Quebec, when my father and I and four others went to la belle province.  Visitor-from-England Mary joined us for a couple of days.

Mary, it turned out, was the daughter of a well known judge at one of the most famous courts in London, Old Bailey.  The Judge, it turned out, had been captain of the debating team at Cambridge, and he and two colleagues debated at 31 midwest and western U.S. universities in the Fall of 1927, including the University of North Dakota and then-North Dakota Agricultural College.  I had an opportunity to meet and visit with him, and still have a copy of his diary from the tour.  He remembered North Dakota!

The fingerprints of England are all over the U.S.  Sykeston ND, one of the many tiny towns I grew up in, was founded in 1883 by Richard Sykes, a wealthy Englishman, who founded other towns in ND and Saskatchewan.

A delightful English couple in California, Tony and Heather, owned for many years my Grandfathers 1901 Oldsmobile, and in 2001 we were in the double-decker bus following the route of the famous London-Brighton road rally, in which Tony had driven the little car some years earlier.

Along the way, connected with one of my websites, I met a Syrian Christian who has lived in London for many years, and we stay in touch. More recently a Pakistan civic official who got his administrative and legal training in England worked with me on a project when he was here on a Fulbright program.  The results are here.

My spouse’s dearest long-time friend, Allyson, grew up in Antigua, part of the Commonwealth, and has relatives who were and are in government service there…and whose ancestors came there as slaves.  My guess is Allyson is grieving like the others.

Most recently, my colleague Mary Ellen Weller has just published a biography of Anne Frances Hopkins, English artist, whose claim to fame came from her paintings of the Voyageurs in early Quebec, then Canada.  The book is worth your time.

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All of these, and endless other connections, reflect the good and not always pleasant and past reality: “the sun never sets on the British empire”.

Stories abound.  The Queen, and now her son, the King, get the attention, but as is true always and everywhere, it is the people who really make the difference.

Elizabeth deserves the accolades.  Like all of us, her time to bid adieu has come.

I wish all well.

COMMENTS (see also comment at end of post.  I will respond later):

from a long time good friend: I have some very mixed feelings about the Queen and her country.
1. I was 12 when she took over the throne.  She was so sweet, innocent and timid, and I’ve always had a warm spot in my heart for her.
2. The foundation of the so-called royalty is some horrible person leading an army invading and taking over some territory and proclaiming himself King.  Not genetically superior to anyone else but driven by greed and lacking morality.  Further, during a construction project in England, the remains of King Richard the 3rd were discovered.  He was the last British King to be killed in battle.  His DNA didn’t trace back to his so-called royal lineage, so his father was someone like a stable boy, the butler, or some other worker.  Further yet, the kings, princes, or princesses choose to mary someone that may have no connection to any so-called royal family.  So, in summary, the notion of royalty is a sham.
3. The British are some of the most horrible peoples on the earth.  At one time, they had invaded about 45% of the earth’s lands, occupying the region and slaughtering the inhabitants or enslaving them and robbing them of their wealth.  Somewhere around 1700 a British ship was entering port, loaded with wealth that they had stolen during some invasion.  This was pretty common, and a group of other sailors decided to attack the ship and steel the wealth for themselves.  They were called pirates.  We were brought up to believe that the pirates were very bad people.  Were they the bad guys or were the scumbags that had invaded some country, slaughtered, or enslaved the inhabitants and stolen their wealth the bad guys.  Hypocrisy has been a mainstay of British society.  And then there was Churchill that you educated me about.  Such a scumbag that no one would ever believe anything he said.  As Laurance of Arabia was soliciting support of the Arabic world to join the WW 1 allies is their battle with the Ottoman Empire and many parts of Europe, with the promise that they would have their freedom if they helped win the war, you pointed out to me the Sykes-Picot agreement to divide up the Ottoman Empire between the British and France with no freedom for the Arabic world, and no consideration for ethnic groups like the Kurds who have been divided and persecuted since then.  After the war, General Faisal, who led the Arabic army decided that the capital of the new free Arabic world would be in Damascus.  When he was informed that there would be not free Arabic world, he rebelled and the response from Churchill was the gassing of Damascus, killing around 60,000 people, most of which were women and children.
Enough for now.  Just wish that the USA would do a better job of selecting its allies.

from Christine: It is an easy way of thinking to judge the past and responsibilities  with todays values and habits. But I think it is always wrong.

I have never seen you, Dick, fall into that perverse sort of judgments and that makes us friends.
However, It has become common, nowadays for many head of States to apologize for the past. We are not responsible for what our parents have achieved, good or bad and we will never know for sure their motivations. The past is past.
Only a few causes which are still being persecuted today deserve a judgment on my view from the past actions as well as today’s ones: antisemitism or anti any religion. This is the black side of humanity which led to atrocities and still is.
About persecutions from the Americas conquerors, historians keep discovering facts or books distorting the truth we thought was accepted. I think of the “Black legend” written on purpose by the English to accuse the Spanish of committing genocides in Latin America, when the tribes of that time where killing each other with an unknown cruelty much more than by the Spanish who tried to pacify those peiples. This has actually opened the path to the Conquistadores to expand their influence and their territory. I am not saying they were perfect gentlemen. I am only saying that history is history and we need to be very cautious about judgments of the past.
Thank you Dick for always push your readers ( me) to reflections.
To get back to the main subject, Queen Elizabeth was much loved and respected over her reign. Who knows what can be her responsibility over a black side of history over her 70 years reign….. our descendants may have different views from ours….

Election 2022

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60 days from this Thursday, at least by my calculation, will be the most consequential American election of my entire life.  Actually, in my state, Minnesota, voting begins Sep 23; best to be registered to vote by Oct. 18.  The Minnesota rules can be seen here.  You can see your sample ballot here.

(For other states, a good resource seems to be from NBC, here.)

Everything you need to know is on your state secretary of state’s website.  There’s never a year to sit on your hands till the last minute, and only then know anything about the consequences of your vote (which includes not voting at all, or voting for someone who has absolutely no chance of winning, just to make a point).

Love it or hate it, in our U.S. there are two viable political parties, Democrat and “Republican”, and at the state and national levels, there is no such thing as a truly independent lawmaker.  Politics has long been a team activity in this country.  If your local candidate, whether man or woman, says they’ll be independent, ain’t so.  What the parties stand for at state and national level matters a great deal.  This years ‘battleground, seems primarily be at the state lawmaking level – who will be your state legislator, or representative in the national Congress.

I watch what’s going on, and I note from the earliest campaign signs, the people on the Republican side on the sample ballot, are not identifying themselves as Republican endorsed on their signs.  I don’t think this is an accident or a mistake.  They would like to convey the impression of independence.  Not honest.

My personal stand has been at every blog I’ve posted in the last 13 years.  You can read it: “moderate pragmatic Democrat”.

A friend from childhood days, a man whose trade was words, a well known author, angrily dropped off my list a few months back, challenging my pragmatism.  Fair enough.  I looked up the word, and the definition that applies to me, indeed the first in the list in my dictionaries definition, was “practical”.

My entire work career in labor union work was spent sorting out stuff between, and working with, people, organizations, management and labor.  There was no certainty any day in my job.  That’s where both the moderate and the pragmatic came in.  Solutions had to be found.

Re Democrat: that party has long been my brand, because Democrats are much more inclusive and bigger ‘tent’.  That makes them seem, sometimes, disorganized.  We’re a complex society – we each live in our own version of this.

In the days when “progressive Republican” was acceptable, I related well to those kinds of Republican.  Dwight Eisenhower comes to mind at the national level; Gov. Elmer L. Andersen in Minnesota.  These folks hardly exist in todays Republican party; they have been banished, which is why I put the word in quotes early in this post.

President Biden defined todays issue well in his recent speech in Philadelphia.  It is worth a listen as you consider the future.   Of course, his critics went ballistic; these, the exact same folks who cannot speak of people like myself without derision: labeling Democrat as “Antifa”, “Socialist”, “radical” on and on….

I’ll close this chapter with a review of the other “sides” position, which I highlighted in a blog some time ago, and asked several friends to respond.  It’s a piece, sent by a reader, that suggests that we are not a democracy, and therefore talks about democracy or Democrats as somehow almost un-American.  Initially, I dismissed it – it was so far out – but then I actually heard an Arizona politician convey the meme in a public speech.  Here is the blog with the reference.  Focus on the John Porter post which is the basis for the post, and the responses to it.

I have no idea who John Porter is.  But do take the time, as with the Biden speech, to listen and reflect.

Then get to work.  Our system of government, formerly the envy of the world, is at stake.  Nov. 8 is two months away.

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POSTNOTES: Check out my Labor Day post here.

Joyce routinely sends excellent commentary on national issues.  I highly recommend each of these:  Here, about the Court ruling on a Special Master for the former president.  The Weekly Sift on the same issue.  Heather Cox Richardson is always worth reading.   I always read these.

Last night we watched the last of a three part series on the German people and Hitler.  This was about the last two years of the war – when the dream of a thousand year Reich evaporated.  At the end some scenes from Nuremberg trial, and the narrator said that even till the end many Germans still idolized Hitler….  It is mindful of the cult of personality still infecting the MAGA crowd.

POSTNOTE 2:  I plan to continue as per usual in my writing, but I will less frequently visit your mail box with reminders.  Easiest way to keep up with my thinking (or lack of same, as you prefer), is to go to the home page (here) and check the archive for the current month, which has every post for the month, most current first..

COMMENTS:

from Fred: Couldn’t agree more re your point about the election. The question is which party you support? Candidates are stalking horses for their party, no matter what they say. The Dems, as always, have differences about which they argue endlessly. No GOP candidate facing a primary or a party vote can risk can come against the leader of what, more and more, is looking like a cult.

Labor Day

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Recent Posts:1) Al Franken: 2) New School Year; 3) Ukraine Visitors; 4) Activism; 5) State Fair; 6) Mikhail Gorbachev, 7) Insecure

Yes, there have been several recent posts.  Take your pick.  Many readers are ‘activists’.  Please take a look at the post on activism.

On this Labor Day, simply some suggestions about very interesting upcoming events:

  1. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.  Thursday, September 15, Citizens for Global Solutions MN will have a Zoom Conversation with Ukraine native Natalie Etten about the situation in her home country.  I think Natalie coordinated the student visit here a couple of weeks ago (Ukraine Visitor blog, above).  Details of the September 15 session as currently available are here.  Attendees are asked to register in advance.
  2. The Veterans for Peace Golden Rule boat begins what will be a 10,000 mile 1 1/2 year “Grand Loop” down the Mississippi, thence east and north up the Atlantic Coast at Stillwater MN September 17, 2022.  Earlier events are in Duluth on September 8,

    The Golden Rule 2022

    All details of the project, including a history of the boat, and the schedule of events are here.  See pp 5&6 of the newsletter for calendar of specific events in Duluth, the Twin Cities area, and downstream Minnesota.  This is a major initiative to highlite the need to end nuclear threats; the current tensions in Ukraine emphasize the need for spotlighting this concern.  (The west coast/Hawaii portion of the tour has been completed.)

  3. The annual Twin Cities Non Violent initiative, which first occurred in 2018,  begins September 21 and goes until early October.  A 10 minute video introduces this years event.  You can view details here.  You are especially encouraged to participate in Day One.

A final thought: Sunday, Sep. 4, Fr. T at Basilica delivered another powerful message, this time for Labor Day, His sermon was based on Paul’s Letter to Philemon from prison, about a slave about to be released to his master (see Philemon 9-10, 12-17 from Grandma’s 1911 Bible: Pauls Letter to Philemon 9-10 12-17).  The Priests message centered on his recently watching three workers doing a roofing job near his home on a 91 degree day, and a brief visit with them at the end of the day.  Their work day was a difficult 10 hours.  We’ve all seen similar projects where we live.  Father’s message at the end: “The rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer in our world.”  We, sitting there in church, are largely “master’s” – rich – (though we wouldn’t think of ourselves as such) not far separated from “slaves” who provide our wants and such as clothing often from sweat shops overseas, a new roof, and on and on.

On this Labor Day, with the political messages things like inflation, and similar ‘woe is me’ narratives, we remain far and away the richest nation on earth, and it seems never enough.

Here’s an on-point commentary from Marianne Williamson.

Finally, I offer an uplifting conclusion to this post.  I was sent this a couple of years ago, and it speaks to me, and I hope it raises you up as well.

Have a great fall and year.

A post on politics, tomorrow.

Insecure

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February 16, 2022, I published my first post about the Ukraine crisis.  Later that week, more than 6 months ago, I had surgery for Colon cancer.  The post is accessible here.   The first shot had not yet been fired.

Fast forward: August 23, I was part of a group who might a wonderful bunch of Ukrainian teens who were able to come to the U.S. for a welcome break from war back home.  I wrote a bit about it here.  Thursday, Sept 15, there will be a zoom gathering sponsored by a group I’m part of, and you’re welcome to join wherever you are.  Details forthcoming.  Click here.

And yesterdays news included a segment on Ukraine kids returning to school in a new environment…preparedness for missile attacks and the like.

Insecurity, now a part of life, not only in Ukraine.

And back here, at home, there is the  absurd carrying on relating to the former Presidents trifling with national security, with his own Army of loyal privates, saying in assorted ways ‘no big deal’.

As recently as this week unlikely suspects, including Karl Rove and William Barr, former attorney general, are sounding the alarm about the mishandled official documents on Fox News, no less.  This is insane.

And people are at the State Fair, as I was earlier this week, and on the midway and elsewhere on the Fairgrounds you’d hardly know there was anything other than perfect weather to contend with.

If only it would be so easy.

Election 2022 is a slight bit over two months away.  Labor Day is Monday.  In our society, no one can be forced to vote, or even to vote with full knowledge of the consequences.

Since our nation took its ‘walk on the wild side’, entertaining authoritarian rule, I’ve maintained that the base for this is perhaps one-fourth of the voting age population.  The other hangers on, usually single issue types, have rarely gotten the percentage over 40%

But far, far too many don’t even bother to vote, much less informed.  It is our recipe for disaster.

Every election, for every position, is consequential.  Be registered; encourage others to register; learn the candidates, the issues, the implications.

November 9 is too late.  We’re talking about our future, more so, this year, than ever.

We’re the difference between a functioning democracy and Putin’s authoritarian Russia.   It is as simple as that.

 

 

Gorbachev

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Mikhail Gorbachev died August 30, 2022, at 91.  I’ll leave the news to the regular media.  This post is to pass along some long ago memories, from early June, 1990, when the Gorbachev’s visited Minnesota.

I took quite a number of pictures, such as you can take snapshots of a VIP when you’re just trying to guess where he/she will be at a particular moment.

The below three most evoke the day, for me, anyway:

Gorbachev June 1990

Gorbachev’s leaving Minneapolis June 4, 1990 photos Dick Bernard

The hand out the car window is (I think) Mikhail Gorbachev, on John Ireland Blvd.  The photographer, me, is just to the south of the Department of Transportation Building.  The middle photo is, I think, at the Lexington Ave ramp off of I-94 in St. Paul.  The lower one, as the Gorbachev’s left Minneapolis.  It was a chilly somewhat wet day, overcast, I recall.  Not prime time for photography, especially for some rank amateur, like me.  The sun lowering in the west was peaking out by the times the Gorbachevs were about to take off.  I think I at least caught the essence.

There’s a great plenty of replay of Gorbachev’s life, and about the visit to Minnesota which can be accessed elsewhere.

That he was here at all was pretty remarkable.  I do wonder how Vladimir Putin really feels about Gorbachev.  You won’t see it from any official announcement, I’d be certain (as I write I haven’t seen such announcement so far.)

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Mikhail Gorbachev was an uncommon leader for the Soviet Union.

I have no expertise beyond being an interested citizen, for years, in international issues.  My closest call were the above photos.

Gorbachev had more than ordinary political skills to become final leader of the then Soviet Union.  He is a very interesting person to study.  I look on him very favorably.  A simple first reference is the Wikipedia article about him.   Another article is about the dissolution of the Soviet Union.  One of the resulting independent countries was Ukraine.

When he visited here in 1990, the end of the Soviet Union was little over a year away.

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If you wish to learn more about June 4, 1990, simply search Gorbachev Minnesota for more.

 

The Minnesota State Fair

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I made the trip over to the Fairgrounds Monday – first time in a couple of years.  It was a very nice day, a large throng “like the olden days” (120,288 attendance on Monday).  If you’re interested in such things, here’s the link.  There was no Fair in 2020, and something of a tippy-toe back in 2021.  This year it seemed pretty normal.

August 29, 2022

I’ve attended the Fair for years.  By no means am I an exciting visitor.  Mostly boring, I’d say.  I have a normal routine.  This year I was actually there for a couple of hours; going back and forth by express bus probably took longer than the time actually spent on the grounds, but it was worth it.  I can’t explain why.

I did my annual stop at the Education Minnesota to get my free calendar with my photo – a portion of it shows at the end of this post.  I can remember the first time this was featured, back in the old- MEA days when I was working there.  It was probably about the early 1990s, and was not nearly as perfected as now.  It was also expensive – a budget decision for the Union – and in the early days the question was whether or not to keep it. Keeping it was a great decision.  The Education Minnesota booth is a ‘draw’ every year, not only for me.

Politics is always a feature of the Fair.  This year was pretty low-key: I did not see a single MAGA cap.  “Taxation is Theft” seemed the theme at the Libertarian booth; “Defund the Government” was some guys t-shirt.  I  saw three people wearing a homemade sign “Walz Failed”, about our Governor.   “Failed at what?” would be a wasted question, likely without an answer.

I stopped by the DFL (Democrat) booth – on my usual route – where it happened both Governor Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan were with a large enthusiastic crowd.  Tim looked and sounded like the high school football coach he used to be.  There was no heckling.  He was impressive.  So was Lt. Governor Flanagan.

No doubt there was security, but it certainly was not obtrusive.

Gov. Tim Walz Aug. 29, 2022

Fair time over, I went home.  Tired.  Glad I came.  Enough till next year when the State Fair Gene will kick in again, Lord willing.  Here’s the 2022 calendar in pdf form: Dick Bernard 2022 EM calendar

Aug 29, 2022

Activism

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This post is about activists, of whom I personally know many, including on this blog list.  Activists – no matter the cause – are not large in number.  A Lutheran Pastor I greatly respect, a man whose flock was college students in California in the turbulent 1960s, estimated that perhaps 2% of the students at his colleges were actually activists – mostly anti-war.  Mostly the collegians were simply going to college.  But the activists made a disproportionate difference by their actions.

M, around which this post is built, is an activist I’m privileged to know.  I don’t think she considered herself an activist, but she is.  August 27 she sent her occasional collection of poetry to a list of unknown size, of which I’m happy to have long been a part.  Here’s what she sent, for late Summer and early Fall, 2022: Summer-Fall 2022.  I can remember about when she started this good habit.  Something in these three pages may speak to you.  Take a look.

She introduces her recent gift, thusly:

“Enclosed, as you can see, is a bit of late summer/early fall poetry… 

It really feels like the season change snuck up on me this year, and perhaps you feel the same. Suddenly, the young crop of woodpeckers (3 different kinds) is coming into our feeders (while the young & raffish-looking blue jays sit in the nearby bush, explaining squawkily to their parents that they still want curb service…)

The flying squirrel visits the same feeder by dark; maybe once a week whoever’s getting up at night may get a look at him…he’s just so neat–& giant dark eyes… 

And, the migration is starting—geese families are doing practice runs, and I saw a hummingbird stop at our hanging plant (word is that they’re starting migration through MN now). So, keep looking skyward.

Peace, love, hugs, in these scary times,”

I first mentioned M’s name in a post on Nov. 3, 2011.  She has been a frequent contributor – I note 46 posts in which she was referenced, including in an unpublished draft I had entitled “Community Heroes” from late December 2018, where I had said this: “My gift to you, today, comes via long-time friend M, who I met years ago in Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers. Every now and then, most often at the times of solstice or equinox, M gathers a few pieces of poetry and sends them along to a list, including myself. They come without fanfare or gift-wrapping, but they indeed are gifts.”

As noted above, I don’t think M would consider herself an activist.  Last time I actually saw her was probably at a meeting more than 10 years ago.  But she inspires me, and doubtless others, in the most low-key kind of way.

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I’m one person, and once upon a time I had the fantasy that it was practically possible for a simple concept – “each one, reach two” to be doable.  It seemed so easy.  Ain’t so.  Anyone wishing to know more can easily find my story at Uncomfortable Essays at this site (pages 3-7).

So…”Each one, reach one”, is much more doable, particularly if unintended, teaching by example, as M is.

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Today the Priest at Basilica, ordained 54 years ago in 1968, shared a story which fits the topic perfectly, in my opinion.  (The Gospel text for today was Luke 14:1, 7-14, and it and the other readings focused on humility, the topic for his homily.)

Fr. T,  retired, weekend assistant, and outstanding preacher, remembered a mentor when he was a young Priest in Chicago.  The mentor was young also, but older colleague Priest, who shared a personal story when he was early in his career as a Priest.

When he was a new Priest, the mentor recalled, he got a prestigious appointment to a program in Rome.  This was during the time when John XXIII was Pope (Oct. 1958-Jun. 1963).

The Priest travelled to Rome, in steerage class on a ship.  Enroute, an older lady, dressed shabbily, saw him – he looked like a Priest – and stopped to visit.  She asked where he was from, and he said Chicago, and she said she’d been there: “where?”  He answered, including noting there were lots of “bums” where he was.

Fast forward, in Rome, the Priest went to a Mass at the Vatican, again rather full of himself, and at Communion time he noted John XXIII gave Communion specifically and especially to a group of people, one of whom he recognized immediately – the woman he’d met on the ship.

“I met her”, he said to the Priest sitting next to him.  “Who is she?”

The Priest responded, “Dorothy Day” (deceased Nov. 29, 1980).

(You need to read the Gospel and know of Dorothy Day, recommended to be named a Catholic Saint, to get the point….)

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I’d guess Molly – yes, that’s M’s name – will be embarrassed to be called a “community hero” and an “activist”.  She is.

I know lots of M’s.  One action, one day at a time….

POSTNOTE: after publishing this, and before M saw this post, her list got another item from her:

Friends,
This is the 59th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial… The speech, of course,  has always been, of course, and remains utterly breathtaking…
Here are 2 filmings thereof:
This one has the sound/visual sync just bit off, but this is a very clear visual & audio recording… It was recorded by a student attendee at that time. It actually has the better video.

Another version, a professional reporter-type production, is somewhat longer, and has a “fuzzier” look and is here.

Love, blessings, and onward towards justice of all sorts,