War – Page 15 – Thoughts Towards a Better World

#698 – Dick Bernard: The Hennepin County Commission, Minneapolis Mayor and City Council and the UN Flag, 1968 and 2012.

March 5, 2013/0 Comments/in Community, History, International Relations, Minnesota, Peace & Justice, Politics, War /by dickbernard

This “filing cabinet” including much more background for this issue is at March 27, 2013, the link is here.

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NOTE TO READER: This long post is an effort to convey information, and opinion, about a specific issue I wasn’t aware of, in a community other than my own: an essentially covert act by a government entity to remove a UN flag which had flown quietly with the U.S. and Minnesota flags over Hennepin County Plaza for 44 years, 1968-2012.
I was not seeking to find the issue. To some, the issue described may seem small and insignificant, and it was and remains a non-mandatory issue for the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners – they can do what they wish to do. Nonetheless, to this writer, the voluntary action described illustrates simply one example of a careless action, ignorance of history, and a (possibly) inadvertent and very negative change in tone of leadership in our civil society.
As a society, we choose our own fate through actions of leaders we freely elect. As individual citizens we either seek to change the status quo, or we sit idly by. Simply voting (which includes not bothering to vote informed, or to even vote at all) is only the first action of a responsible citizen. An accumulation of seemingly small actions can have an irreversible long term impact.
It is important to keep our leaders accountable. For Hennepin County residents here is an opportunity.
(click on all photos to enlarge them)

Flags at Woodbury Veterans Memorial near Woodbury City Hall March 2,2013

Sometimes research leads to unexpected results.
In December, 2012, I finally discovered the documents I needed to document a very important event in Minneapolis in March and May, 1968. They were in the archival records of Minneapolis Mayor Arthur Naftalin (1961-69) at the Minnesota History Center. There were many pages about the 1968 Declaration of World Citizenship of Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis. Found in the file was Lynn Elling’s‘s history of the event, written in late May, 1968: Henn:Mpls Decl Mar 68001
These documents answered my previously unanswered questions – they were exactly what I was looking for: World Law Day May 1 1968001.
Days after my discovery, unsought and completely unexpected, came a link to an April 2012 Nick Coleman commentary about a March 27, 2012, action by the Hennepin County Board, removing the United Nations flag as one permitted to fly at the Hennepin Co. Government Center, Minneapolis. That issue instantly attracted my attention, and while I’m still searching for more facts, today, March 5, 2013, seems to be the appropriate time to bring the issue to public attention.
March 5, 1968, 45 years ago, was a significant day in the history of Minneapolis and Hennepin County. On that day the Board of Commissioners of Hennepin County, the Minneapolis City Council, and then-Minneapolis Mayor Arthur Naftalin unanimously recognized “the sovereign right of our citizens to declare that their citizenship responsibilities extend beyond our city and nation. We hereby join with other concerned people of the world in a declaration that we share in this world responsibility and that our citizens are in this sense citizens of the world. We pledge our efforts as world citizens to the establishment of permanent peace based on just world law, and to the use of world resources in the service of man and not for his destruction.”

Later, a bi-partisan who’s-who in Minnesota signed the declaration as well.
This Declaration, by “the first American community to take such action”, further requested that the Municipal Building Commission “proudly display the United Nations flag on suitable occasions at the main entrance to the City Hall and the main entrance to the new county building.”

Minneapolis/Hennepin County MN Declaration of World Citizenship signed March 5, 1968, dedicated May 1, 1968

On May 1, 1968, then as now, Law Day, a large group of citizens, including at least 27 Mayors of Hennepin County communities, met at the City Hall to publicly celebrate the Declaration and publicly raise the United Nations flag alongside the American flag. A new flagpole had been raised for this purpose. In Minnesota the observance came to be known as “World Law Day”, as shown in a May 1, 1968, cartoon in the Minneapolis Star: World Law ‘toon My 1 68 001

Keynote speaker May 1 1968, former Minnesota Governor Elmer L. Andersen, proudly supported the flag raising.
Among other remarks he said the raising of the United Nations flag “represents a commitment to cooperation among nations for world peace, to belief in the common brotherhood of all men of all nations, and to aspirations for a world community of peace, freedom and justice under world law.” His speech can be read here: Elmer Andersen I Trust..001

Elmer L. Andersen (center), Mayor Arthur Naftalin (right) and unidentified person with the UN flag before raising May 1, 1968

The United Nations Flag was raised on the new flagpole next to the U.S. flag, a symbol of community and non-partisan friendship with the world. Certainly, proper flag protocol was followed. The flagpole gave permanence to the word “suitable” in the earlier resolution.
That UN Flag, and many successor flags, to my knowledge, probably flew consistently until March 27, 2012, when the Hennepin County Board, quietly in the consent agenda, and likely with no public hearings or even internal debate, directed that the UN Flag be taken down permanently. The directive stated that “solely the flags of the United States, Minnesota and Hennepin County” be raised, “in compliance with the U.S. Flag Code.”
The 2012 Board Resolution is here: Henn Co Res 3:27:12001
I discovered this resolution at the end of December, 2012, and immediately took issue, as a citizen, by writing the Members of the Hennepin County Board: Bernard Ltr 12:2912001. I learned that six of the seven had been on the Board at the time of the earlier resolution; apparently four of them had voted on the resolution, all in favor.
I have received no response from any Board member which in itself is not especially surprising, since I don’t live in Hennepin County, but it nonetheless significant (see comment about Arthur Naftalin, below).
To date, the only rationale I know of, provided by the Board to a citizen of the county, is that flying the U.N. flag in some way goes against the U.S. Flag Code Section VII, Paragraph C. This statute is easily accessed on the internet. The cite from Statute seems to apply only to the U.S. flag “when carried in a procession with another flag”.
The flagpoles at City Hall were stationary, certainly by no means in “procession”. Whatever the case, the Code in question has no penalties for even egregious violations – its tenets are superseded by freedom of speech.
There is nothing illegal about the UN flag. it is a legitimate flag. The UN is headquartered in New York City, and a prime mover for the founding of the United Nations was the United States, led by people like another former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen. The U.S. has been a dominant player at the UN since its founding. The UN is hardly an enemy nation, though it is portrayed that way by some who seem governed by fear.
There are people who just despise the United Nations, and they won on March 27, 2012. The UN flag was quietly taken down at Hennepin County Government Center.
There is no need for the issue to remain quiet.
The decision makers, the Hennepin County Board, need to hear from citizens. Only in that way will an unfortunate decision be reversed and a proud day, May 1, 1968, be once again honored.
I’d suggest that an appropriate occasion to re-fly the United Nations flag and publicly re-affirm the 1968 Declaration of World Citizenship is May 1, 2013, Law Day.

POSTNOTE:
A BIT OF HISTORY
Prime movers of the 1968 Declaration, and a later similar Declaration of the State of Minnesota, were Minneapolis businessmen Stanley Platt and Lynn Elling. Now 92, Lynn still lives in Minneapolis, and remains active. Lynn was the MC of the May 1, 1968, event, and later described the process leading to the Declaration: Henn:Mpls Decl Mar 68001

Lynn Elling at Minneapolis City Hall May 1, 1968 opening the event where Minneapolis and Hennepin County declard themselves World Citizenship Communities, and where the United Nations flag flew alongside the U.S. flag.

Lynn Elling at Minneapolis City Hall May 1, 1968 opening the event where Minneapolis and Hennepin County declared themselves World Citizenship Communities, joining perhaps 1000 other world communities, and where the United Nations flag flew alongside the U.S. flag.

Lynn Elling with the Minneapolis Declaration at Minneapolis City Hall, Dec. 22, 2012. Photo compliments of Bonnie Fournier of the Smooch Project

In 1971, the State of Minnesota also declared itself a World Citizen. Again this was completely non-partisan. The Minneapolis Star Tribune editorial spoke to the concept of World Citizenship then.

THE UNITED NATIONS FLAG DOES CONTINUE TO FLY TO THIS DAY.
Travel two miles east from the Hennepin County Government Center to Augsburg College Campus and you’ll see the United Nations flag proudly flying amongst four others, properly displayed in relation to the U.S. flag. Those attending the 25th Nobel Peace Prize Forum at Augsburg this weekend will see the flags flying, alongside I-94.

Augsburg College, Minneapolis MN, March 3, 2013. UN flag is at center

Augsburg is not unique. Minneapolitan Jim Nelson, who was at the May 1, 1968 dedication, spent his career at Honeywell, where the UN flag flew every day.
THEN AS NOW A SMALL GROUP ATTEMPTED TO BULLY DECISION MAKING.
In 1968, after the dedication, some enraged citizens demanded that the UN flag be removed. On Feb. 7, 1969, Mayor Naftalin wrote colleague Mayor Joseph Alioto of San Francisco affirming the importance of the Declaration. In relevant part, he said “we were pleased to issue our proclamation, although our action has not met with universal approval judging from some of the mail it has prompted.” [there were perhaps 15 negative letters, only three from Hennepin County citizens]. “However, I am still convinced the proclamation has much merit as a symbolic step towards world peace and I view it as being in the best interests of our city, county, state and nation.” (s) Arthur Naftalin, Mayor.
Interestingly, and in contrast to subsequent action by the members of the 2012-13 Hennepin County Board, Mayor Naftalin wrote individual and respectful acknowledgement letters to every one of those who complained about the Declaration of World Citizenship, regardless of where they were from, or how abusive the tone of their letter (and there were some “hum-dingers”). (I have copied the entirety of the relevant files).
Mayor Naftalin was connected with the greater world; he recognized he was more than leader of just a major city, but himself a World Citizen. I wonder about today’s Hennepin County Board.
WHY I FEEL THE FLAG ISSUE IS AN IMPORTANT ONE.
Perhaps like most people, I do not customarily notice flags, their placement, etc.
This incident has caused me to look more closely at flags I see displayed.
The photo at the beginning of this post is from Woodbury, my home, and in that setting the U.S. flag is set considerably above all of the other flags (primarily military banners – Army, etc.) One might call the Woodbury display a “War Memorial”.
At Augsburg, on the other hand, the flags are in compliance with the Code, but at equal height, neither subordinate nor superior. They more befit the theme of “Peace” within and among nations. There is an entirely different tone.
There are notes of irony, for instance: doubtless there are “State’s Rights” people who might logically demand that their State flag be set higher than the national banner, while at the same time demanding that only the U.S. flag be revered.
Emotion too often trumps reason.
The flag debate is a debate about the tone of our society. How we see ourselves as compared with others.
This is an important question to be considered and discussed.
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Questions? Information that you know that would help further enlighten myself or others on the issue?
Send to
Dick Bernard
dick.bernardATiCloud.com
or
6905 Romeo Road
Woodbury MN 55125-2421

NOTES

NOTE February 14, 2016: For the past three years the Hennepin County Commissioners, most of whom were on the Commission at the time of the official action March 27, 2012, on many occasions have refused to give an honest answer about why they took down the flag (Note: it had nothing to do with their consistent narrative: legality.)

UPDATE: March 6, 2013: This post was reposted in MinnPost on March 5. A comment there notes a very slight error on my part in describing the location of the Woodbury Veterans Memorial. That error has been corrected below. I am in close proximity to that Memorial every day, and, in fact, am a member of the local American Legion Post involved in the development.
Re Hennepin County, Mr. Elling indicated yesterday that a group of citizens raised $6,000 in 1968 to purchase the flagpoles for the U.S. and United Nations flags at Minneapolis City Hall. This was serious money back then.
The Twin Cities Daily Planet has now also picked up this post.
Questions? Scroll to very end of this post for my contact information. I’ll try to answer.

#695 – Dick Bernard: Mike, VCSTC's Mr. Moore and a lesson in Civics and Freedom of Speech; and the problem of "Judging a book by its cover".

February 26, 2013/0 Comments/in Community, Education, Family History, History, North Dakota, War /by dickbernard

I met Mike when he was about 14 years old. He was my new girlfriend, Barbara’s, brother, 4 years younger than she. I don’t remember much about him then. Their younger brother, David, then 4 or so, more sticks in my mind. He was a really nice little kid.
This would have been about 1961, in Valley City, at their little house just south of Mercy Hospital.
Forty-six years later I was with Mike when he had his last meal at the hospital in Fargo. A few hours later he died, last survivor from his immediate family. I was his brother-in-law and had become the “go-to” guy and friend. At that last meeting I was able to show him what I still feel was the death certificate for his Dad, and where his Dad was buried. It seemed a very important deal for Mike. He knew nothing about his father, who’d left when he was two years old and there had been no contact at all after his parents divorced.
(click on photos to enlarge)

Mike, May 2007. His last few years he was paraplegic as an effect of aneurysm surgery – a high risk of the needed procedure.

In my memory, Mike always seemed “odd man out” in the family. In his last months, I made it my mission to try to find out, at least, who his Dad was. (The likely father died when Mike was about 9, turned out, and had been living about 150 miles from Valley City.)
From early on, Mike’d been on his own, so to speak. He probably reminded his Mom of his Dad; and his sister and brother were easier to be with. Mike could be mean.
Mike lived most of his final years a block from the walking bridge near the college in Valley City. Up the block was a funeral home; across the street was the Sheyenne River. Till she died in 1999, his Mom lived with him in the little house.
Mike would have been noticed in town, not necessarily in a positive way. He was a loner, sometimes odd looking, nocturnal. He seldom shopped, but seemed to tend to buy doubles of things: two pairs of the same kind of shoes, two identical coffee makers; two bottles of Coke…. He’d been mentally ill for many years, but was one of those who if they take their meds can get along. I gather he went through his own drug phase, sometime.
We all know people like Mike. People whose unattractive “cover” masks a “book” within. Often I see a woman pacing a small indoor mall near here. She is in her own world, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings, pacing quickly, talking loudly to herself. Recently, I asked a friend who works there about the woman. “She drives her car here”, she said, shaking her head. The lady probably takes her meds and is no danger to anyone, including people on the road.
For Mike, inside his “book” was great intelligence, and a refusal to give up.
He graduated from Valley City High School in 1965. When the few of us buried him in 2007, one of his high school teachers, Annie Haugaard, legendary Valley City teacher, said that Mike had been a good boy, a good student. She felt it important to say that about Mike. She knew a bit about him, inside that cover….
To my knowledge, no one attended his high school graduation as his sister, my wife, had just been admitted to University Hospital in Minneapolis with what turned out to be a terminal illness. All attention was on her, deservedly so. If someone went to the graduation to honor him, I haven’t heard about it.
Mike went on, and got his teaching degree at Valley City State Teachers College. Sometime in 1966-67 he had Mr. Kenneth Moore as a history teacher.
After graduation, he got a teaching job in ND, quite a distance from Valley City, in a school large enough to have 17 seniors. He taught there 1 1/2 years until he was fired. Thence he was drafted into the Army, where he served for two years, was given a secret clearance (which he honored, believe me), and was discharged as a Specialist 5th Class – a high ranking for a two year enlisted man. He had wanted to be a career man, but someone(s) in the little town where he had taught sabotaged his chances to continue in the military. The general allegation was lack of patriotism.

Mike (at left) 1972

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I know all this, because when I was cleaning out his house, which he’d lost when he stopped making payments, I found among his meager belongings five copies of a 22 page statement from a military interrogatory at his base in Germany, dated 23 March 1972. The copies were almost unreadable (a one page sample is here:Mike transcript 3:1972001 ) For some reason, that interrogatory was important to him; as was his Army uniform, which I found crumpled in a dresser drawer. The uniform now resides in the Archives at the North Dakota History Center in Bismarck, with Sp5 affixed to the shoulder.
I’ve read through the interrogatory several times, and given the questions asked, and the persons cited by name, Mike ran afoul of someone(s) in his employing school district, basically for the sin of allowing kids to talk about their opposition to the Vietnam War, then raging. He was assigned to advise the school paper, and apparently kids wrote about maybe going to Canada to escape the draft, etc., and he wouldn’t censor them. Some of the complainants are named in the interrogatory. Into the mix came the name of Kenneth Moore of VCSTC whose teaching methods were, according to Mike, “to get people to think”. “It was through him that I probably got some of my teaching ideas specifically talking about current events, rather than by just lecturing….” (interrogatory)
The interrogatory goes on and on.
An allegation is made about how Mike himself may have threatened to go to Canada to escape the draft. In response to a question he says “When I first came in [the Army] I didn’t want to be in…But to tell you the truth, since I’ve gotten out of basic training I have nothing really of consequence against the Army. As a matter of fact, of all people, I even talked to the Sergeant Major a few days ago about going to Airborne School….” He had never even thought about resisting the draft or going to Canada; but he hadn’t prevented kids from expressing themselves, however.
The charges, however groundless, apparently created a quandary for the military, which gave him a security clearance and promoted him to a high enlisted rank given his short term of service. Sometime around or after the Munich Olympic Games (August-September, 1972) he separated from the service with an honorable discharge after two years of service.
He never talked about the military again, to my recollection. And until I found that uniform crumpled in a dresser drawer, I didn’t know he had any artifacts of that time in history.
I have tried to find out whatever happened to his VCSTC teacher Kenneth Moore, with no success: it’s too common a name and from long ago. Apparently, Mr. Moore was only at VCSTC that single year, 1966-67, a year when the Vietnam War was truly raging. It was not unusual for young instructors to have short tenures at VCSTC: they were continuing their education. But I’m pretty sure that Mr. Moore’s teaching was noticed, and perhaps not positively, in those tense days when free speech wasn’t particularly free.
When I think of judging people these days, I tend to think back to my brother-in-law Mike, who in our brief visits taught me more than he ever learned from me. I salute him.
You’ll find him lying at rest with his mother and brother at Valley City’s Woodbine Cemetery. His sister, Barbara, is up the hill at St. Catherine’s cemetery.
Postnote: Some years before he died, he left brief instructions with the funeral home which handled his arrangements: “As far as any funeral service, that would be nice. However, I doubt if I would have more than two or three people attending. I guess I am kind of a lone wolf.”
In the end, at graveside, there were 6 of us. And later at the assisted living facility in which he lived his last few months (the 2007 photo above was taken there), perhaps 40 or 50 residents gathered for a very nice memorial service.
He may have been a “lone wolf”, but he was not alone. If looking in on his goings-away, he was probably surprised, and you might have even seen a little smile.

Photo by Mike at 1972 Olympic Games, Munich

Olympic Flame at 1972 Munich Olympics, photo by Mike.

Exercise Tip Sheet from Mike during a period of hospitalization in the late 1970s (Note to self: use it!): Mike exercise tip sheet002

#690 – Dick Bernard: The run-up to the Iraq War, 10 Years ago.

February 16, 2013/0 Comments/in History, Minnesota, Politics, War /by dickbernard

Early today a friend sent a link to a commentary about massive world-wide demonstrations against the pending War against Iraq on February 15, 2003.
It brought back memories of those times for me. There was a big march in Minneapolis (photos included in this post) in which I participated.
(click to enlarge)

Feb. 15, 2003 Lake Street Minneapolis MN

Hennepin Avenue Minneapolis 2/15/2003 at the Lowry tunnel

The actual bombing of Baghdad – “Shock and Awe” it was dubbed – came about March 20.
There will be a one-hour retrospective about the war on Iraq on Rachel Maddow’s show on Monday night (8 p.m. CST MSNBC).
Only the most hardened war worshipers will be able to honestly say that the Iraq War was for a good cause and worth it.
Only those most hardened protestors will be able to declare their protests to have ended up in victory – to have made a significant difference. March after march in the ensuing months and years didn’t bring the troops home, and they’re still in Afghanistan and our nations economy almost destroyed by the reckless philosophy of fighting a war, supposedly without sacrifice, on the national credit card.
But both sides will likely declare their opposing narratives about Iraq and Afghanistan to be correct, and on we’ll go.
Among the other photos I took that day are these three, which each evoked certain thoughts and feelings:

Feb 15, 2003, Minneapolis

Feb. 15, 2003, Minneapolis

To my knowledge, there were no marches in the Twin Cities on February 15 or today, remembering the 10 year anniversary.
If there had been one, I’m not sure I would have gone. I burned out on demonstrations for the sake of demonstrating some time ago.
But I think the Peace Movement remains very much alive, only in a different form than how it was, then.
Particularly, I note the sign that says 65% of Americans are against the war.
I don’t know the source of the data for that number, but it fits with my recollection of the national mood back then, and it fits the national mood even more so today.
The neocons had their war, and in large measure have gone silent, except for occasional belligerent eruptions about how important it was to do this, that or the other, even without being able to show reasonable cause or positive long-term effect of invasion, bombing, torture and the like.
I was active then for Peace and Justice (I took those photos ‘on the street’, part of the marchers). I’m even more active now. I just do things a bit differently. Maybe I’m typical, maybe I’m the odd duck.
But I think we’re slowly on a more positive course, and with joint efforts, we can make this a more peaceful and just world.
That last message, “We will REAP what we SOW“, could end up being true.
We need to be the cause in the matter to prove it wrong.
It’s in our court, as individuals, in many tiny and not so tiny ways.
WE are the cause in the matter of our future.

#674 – Dick Bernard: The War for Peace…

January 7, 2013/0 Comments/in History, International Relations, Minnesota, Peace & Justice, Politics, War /by dickbernard

UPDATE Jan. 7, 2013: note comment at end from Garry Davis.
UPDATE Aug, 2013: Garry Davis passed away at the end of July, 2013. See this post.
Sunday [Jan 6,2013] I was privileged to be among nearly 100 people invited to a private preview of a very special eye-opening film, which has the potential to inspire the public with a new way of looking at the world.
In the documentary, which is still in development, World Citizen #1 Garry Davis engaged us with his fascinating life story. A riveting story-teller, he told us how his quest for a different kind of world began during World War II, when in the wake of his own brother being killed in action, he found himself killing German brothers and families in B-17 bomber runs on German cities.
He couldn’t see any sense in killing others to avenge the killing of his brother and this changed his life. He came to see no real sense in even national borders. In the end, he felt, people have to relate to other people, and figure out ways to get along, otherwise our human world cannot survive. Borders were artificial fences, especially as they defined countries.
His actions made him controversial.
The in progress film about Davis, which I think will be a very important one, develops the story of what happened later in Davis’ life, and how his commitment to peace could be a template for us all.
The screening was co-sponsored by Global Solutions Minnesota, World Citizen (founded by Lynn Elling and others in 1972), A Million Copies, and Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers. The Film Society of Minneapolis and St. Paul was also co-sponsor and great host for the event, which was presented in their theater at St. Anthony Main, Minneapolis.
Of course, life is not always simple. Paradoxically, on the same Sunday of the screening, another “war” was about to break out.
President Obama is nominating former Sen. and Vietnam War veteran Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense, and the issue appears to be drawn on whether Hagel will be sufficiently tough as a representative of American interests. Much will be said in coming days. Here’s a good summary of the first salvos.
This nomination battle is well worth watching.
Garry Davis is still very much alive, at 91, and at the screening on Sunday was Minneapolitan Lynn Ellling, near 92, who remains a lion in the quest for World Citizenship and Peace.
After the screening, about half of us stayed for an interesting Skype conversation between Garry Davis and Lynn Elling and others on the topic of world citizenship.
(click on photos to enlarge)

Garry Davis (on screen from Vermont via Skype), Lynn Elling, film producer Arthur Kanegis and a guest share thoughts on the pursuit of world peace on January 6.

Such a topic, Peace, is not a simple one, and there are differences of opinions of how one achieves lasting Peace, but the importance lies in the potential good of the conversation, and of working together to resolve differences.
Garry Davis – and his counterpart Lynn Elling – experienced War up front and very personally in WWII, and neither considers War an option for achieving Peace.
In the War paradigm, which the upcoming debate over Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense is all about, the only conversation will be about the Power of one nation to dominate others, in my opinion.
I had seen an early draft of the Davis film in October, 2012, and it caused me to do reflecting on my own about the issues raised, long before the January 6 preview.
Indeed, Davis was and still is “controversial”.
So, too, were Nelson Mandela who endured years of prison before becoming a world hero; and more recently Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Laureate from Myanmar who couldn’t accept her award in person for fear that she wouldn’t be allowed back in her own country, and endured 21 years of house arrest within her own country, and made one of her first public international statements to the Nobel Peace Prize Forum at Augsburg College in Minneapolis in March 2012. Most recently, she had as a house guest, President Obama.
There is a very long list of “controversial” people who have made a difference and can be role models for us.
Being controversial is often very desirable and good.
I also remembered a couple of sentences written by Martin Luther King Jr. in his book, Why We Can’t Wait, published in 1964, shortly after the assassination of President Kennedy.
King had not long before endured the Birmingham Jail and some months later gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the Washington DC Mall.
He wrote this in his book:
“I am reminded of something President Kennedy said to me at the White House following the signing of the Birmingham agreement.
“Our judgment of Bull Connor should not be too harsh” he commented. “After all, in his way, he has done a good deal for civil-rights legislation this year.”
Immediately following these sentences, King says this, a message to all of us: “It was the people who moved their leaders, not the leaders who moved the people….”
We of that generation tend to forget a crucial fact: at the time of this conversation, Martin Luther King Jr was 33 years old; President John F. Kennedy was 46.
When Lynn Elling MC’ed the event where Minneapolis and Hennepin County became the first World Citizenship city and county in the United States on May 1, 1968, Lynn was 47 years old. Three years later, in March, 1971, Minnesota as a state became World Citizen. Mr Elling was heavily involved in both actions, which were non-partisan and had a very impressive list of bi-partisan supporters.

Lynn Elling at Minneapolis City Hall May 1, 1968 opening the event where Minneapolis and Hennepin County declared themselves World Citizenship Communities, and where the United Nations flag flew alongside the U.S. flag.

Minneapolis/Hennepin County MN Declaration of World Citizenship signed March 5, 1968, dedicated May 1, 1968

Lynn Elling with the Minneapolis Declaration at Minneapolis City Hall, Dec. 22, 2012. Photo compliments of Bonnie Fournier of the Smooch Project

Minnesota Declaration of World Citizenship March, 1971. photo courtesy of Bonnie Fournier, Smooch Project

The future is with the young. We need to help them choose a path which will give them a positive future.
UPDATE Jan 7. 2013: received from Garry Davis:
Hi Dick,
Great blog! Loved it! So happy you referred to my personal “history” site ( a real archaic opus compared to what one sees today, but still containing some interesting archival material). For instance, under “World Citizenship Movement & the World Government,” in the 3nd para. starting “In 2 years over 750,000 people registered, etc.” you will note “In June, ‘mondialized’ Cahors.”
This small southern French town (famous for its wine) actually started the “Mundialization Movement” from which the 1971 statement of “Mundialization” of the State of Minnesota derived followed by the State of Iowa on October 25, 1973. (For the full list see here). [NOTE: Minneapolis and Hennepin County MN mundialized March 5, 1968.]
Colonel Robert Sarrazac, former Maquis during WWII and my principal “organization” in Paris, was the author of the first “Mundialization” declaration.
Maybe a footnote could be added to fill out this important item.
Looking forward to having the pleasure of meeting you in the Spring.
Warmly, in one global village,
Garry

#662 – Dick Bernard: Pearl Harbor Day one day after.

December 8, 2012/0 Comments/in Community, Family History, History, International Relations, Minnesota, Peace & Justice, Politics, War /by dickbernard

Yesterday, December 7, was Pearl Harbor Day. Much of the day I was out-and-about.
Dad’s brother, my uncle Frank, died on the USS Arizona that day, and especially since the 50th anniversary, 1991, it’s been a very significant date for me. I visited the Arizona Memorial in November, 1985, Frank’s burial place literally underneath my feet, in the remains of the battleship that was his home for the last six years of his life. Were he still alive, he’d now be 97. I’ve written about Frank and/or Pearl Harbor often. Most recent is here.
A year ago, December 7, I was at the Veteran’s Service Building in St. Paul to remember the 70th anniversary of the attack. There I met Edgar Wentzlaff, a crewman on the Arizona, who survived. He didn’t remember my Uncle, which wouldn’t be a surprise. What surprised me was that yesterday’s Star Tribune carried a long article about now-95 year old Edgar. Time is running out for the survivors of WWII; tell their stories while they are still alive.
Back home yesterday was an e-mail from my brother, Frank, born Nov 1945, first male child after Frank died, and named for my Uncle Frank. The e-mail included a photo of a man in California, Gary Hanson, who I’ve communicated with, who has made a scale model of the Arizona. Behind me as I type is my own model of the Arizona, made by my friend and colleague Bob Tonra back in the mid 1990s; beside it is a scale model of the USS Woodworth, also by Tonra. Woodworth is the Destroyer on which my mothers brother, Lt. George W. Busch, spent three years in the Pacific, 1943-45.
(click to enlarge).

USS Arizona and DD460, USS Woodworth, models in my home office December 8, 2012. Both models in wood, made by friend and colleague Bob Tonra ca 1996. The "water" with the Arizona is dried Hawaiian foliage from two Hawaiian friends.

Gary Hanson with his Arizona model.

Pearl Harbor and the effects of War (Frank was a peacetime victim, technically) is never far away, a constant reminder of the elusiveness of peace, and the brutality and stupidity of war. It also reminds about how complex and difficult an issue this business of war and peace can be, even among passionate people of seemingly like-interests. War…and Peace…is a family matter.
Pearl Harbor is also a reminder of the need for, and fragility of, enforceable World Law, and the need for a system in which such law has a place at the table.
Working on the issue is no simple task, far beyond absolute 100% right positioning, “standing for something”.
Back home yesterday afternoon I watched again the History Channel program, “The First 24 Hours”, about the first hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I had seen the program before, but events immediately preceding the program made me more mindful of the difficulties we face to prevent the next and likely much worse cataclysm if nations cannot figure out how to get along.
Back then, until the day war was declared, December 8, 1941, the U.S. was a nation divided about whether or not to enter WWII, which had already been raging for several years.
An extremely strong interest group at the time was “America First”, whose motivation was basically as its name suggests. Our isolationism ended only with a disaster that we felt we could only remedy by an extremely long and deadly World War II.
Then, and today, our dilemma is not so much external (like terrorists); rather it is within each and everyone of us, dedicated to our own top and non-negotiable priorities. Thinking, somehow, that we can prevail over our opposition, or win by sneak attacks of small and major scale (that’s why I used my December 7 blog space for the Minnesota Orchestra lockout: in my mind, it was a simple power play now gone awry, with no face-saving way yet found to settle on terms of a contract. Most people don’t care about an Orchestra being locked out, but the effects are felt by those who do.)
Even within the so-called “peace” community, of which I am a part, there is often disagreement, to the detriment of those same advocates for peace.
Yesterday, on Pearl Harbor Day, I saw a copy of the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, supposedly an everlasting and legally binding pact to end all war, following up on the 1914-1918 “war to end all wars” and the resulting Armistice Day commemoration, which later was changed, in the United States, to be called Veterans Day, losing the essence of the day (in my opinion.) In the United Kingdom it is called Remembrance Day.
Of course, the WWI Treaty of Versailles, intended to end War, only helped to spawn Hitler and WWII. And the ink was hardly dry on Kellogg-Briand when ways to bypass its supposedly iron clad language were found, including by the signatories.
I support people with the passion for Kellogg-Briand, etc. But my friends whose passion is making Kellogg-Briand binding once again, seem not quite as passionate about simple things like promoting Peace Sites, places of peace in our midst; or remarkable movements with results like the 1968 and 1971 Declarations of World Citizenship in Minneapolis and Hennepin County, and then Minnesota.
It can be most frustrating.
And on we go.
Where do you stand?
We live in an increasingly fragile world, and the actions we take, or do not take, and the work we do together, or not, will contribute to the problem…or the solution…one person at a time.

Ruhel Islam, owner of Gandhi Mahal Restaurant in Minneapolis, accepts plaque recognizing his restaurant as an International Peace Site from World Citizen founder Lynn Elling (seated at left) Dec. 7, 2012

NOTE to Twin Citians: Gandhi Mahal is a great restaurant. Check it out.

#661 – Dick Bernard: Pearl Harbor Day and the wreckage of the Minnesota Orchestra Lockout

December 7, 2012/0 Comments/in Community, Economics, Labor, Minnesota, War /by dickbernard

UPDATE February 23, 2013: Still unsettled…. I sent this letter to the 28 members of the Minnesota Orchestra Association Executive Committee last week. here. Sometime today I’ll again watch the story of Pearl Harbor. [Here’s this years Pearl Harbor reflection]
I also have interest in current affairs, and the recent lockout of the Minnesota Orchestra is an important issue to me, as we are subscribers, locked out like the orchestra from, perhaps, this entire year of concerts. Thus the following post:
Today is the annual meeting of the Board of the Minnesota Orchestra (MO). I didn’t know that till a newspaper column in yesterdays Minneapolis Star Tribune. I had decided, some weeks ago, that December 7 would be an appropriate date to write about the very public catastrophe facing this world class orchestra whose home is downtown Minneapolis MN.
As I write, there are major issues between musicians and management at the Orchestra. The solution for the moment is to lock out the musicians and those of us who bought tickets to the concerts.
For those with little or no interest in or knowledge of the issue, some time ago the Orchestra Board made at least two major decisions: to embark on a major renovation of Orchestra Hall; and to lock-out the Musicians of the Orchestra in a contract dispute, thus almost guaranteeing that the season will ultimately be cancelled (half has already bit the dust.). We subscribers have thus been “locked out” as well.
The Japanese preemptive strike on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and the lockout of Minnesota Orchestra musicians came quickly to mind for me when this conflict affected we ticket-holders. In both cases there was a ‘win’, albeit short-term, for Japan, and for the MO management, but in the long-term it is a rather pyrrhic victory.
(click on all photos to enlarge)

Orchestra Hall Minneapolis MN December 5, 2012

There have been numerous interesting commentaries not necessarily taking one side or another: In the New Yorker was this contribution; last Sunday in the STrib carried this column. There have been many more commentaries. This has become national news.
I happen to have a particular interest in this lockout, since for a lot of years we’ve been a subscriber for six concerts a year, and perhaps have attended two or three more each season. We sit in the fourth row, behind the maestro. Perhaps there are better seats in the house, but we’ve come to like being upfront, and over time you get to know the nature of your neighbors, and they, you. We seem to be fairly typical among our fellow concert-attendees.
All of we customers have become the victims of this conflict. The list of victims is expanding, daily.
I also spent an entire career in and around collective bargaining, so I know the trade, including the foolhardiness of inserting oneself in the middle of a dispute where the real ‘facts’ (issues) may not be visible. All I can say for certain is that at some point there will be a settlement, and the sooner the better that will be for both parties.
As in war, the more protracted and bitter the conflict, the greater the residual damage will be.
In such disputes there are always diverse points of view, strongly felt. In this one, there seems to be value in ranking several top priorities, which I present in alphabetical order below:
Concern for the customers (the people who actually attend the concerts, whether one or a thousand)
New Lobby construction
Power and Control: authority issues
Quality Musicians and others who work for MO
Savings Account (the endowment fund)
Rank these from one to five (most to least important) and you might have a personal idea of where you stand.
Of course, there can be more factors, but these give an idea. As for me, the November 26 Star Tribune printed a letter from myself on the issue, in which I said, in part: “… we buy tickets to hear the Minnesota Orchestra….”
As a result of this letter, I received a number of very interesting phone calls and e-mails, all positive, all expressing similar concerns.
November 24, I sent a U.S. mail stamped letter to all of the 81 listed members of the Minnesota Orchestra Board. It is here: MN Orchestra Nov 24 Ltr001 (There are actually 25 members on the Board, but the Orchestra website lists honorary, emeritus and other Directors as well. They are listed at the end of this post.)
I asked each for “individual acknowledgement of this letter.” So far, no acknowledgements of any kind have been received from any Board member. Perhaps it’s a little too early.
Meanwhile, the hurt goes on as the cement shoes worn by the respective sides seem to be hardening. Maybe there will be a breakthrough, maybe not.
I went by Orchestra Hall Wednesday to take some photos (above, and following at the Hilton across the street), and together the photos evoke for me a very sad situation for a great orchestra in our great community.
I ask good faith bargaining, all cards on the table, and an honorable settlement.
Since it appears that this is essentially a Business driven conflict, I offer a piece of advice to the people who will have to ultimately settle the matter from my good friend, former Governor and successful businessman, corporate owner and philanthropist Elmer L. Andersen, in his memoir “A Man’s Reach” (2000), edited by Lori Sturdevant. At pages 96-101 Mr. Andersen summarizes his four corporate priorities, as follows:
1. “Our highest priority…should be service to the customer.”
2. “The company should exist deliberately for the benefit of the people associated in it.”
3. “[Our] third priority was to make money.”
4. “Our philosophy did not leave out service to the larger community…The quality of life in a company’s hometown is important to that business’s welfare and future….”
Of course, Mr. Andersen was talking about internal priorities within his own company, but still, it is quite good advice, I’d say.

At the Hilton Hotel near Orchestra Hall December 5, 2012

The Dream...December 5, 2012

Directly related post: here.
The Minnesota Orchestra Musicians Union website is here.
The Minnesota Orchestra Board as of December 6, 2012:
* – denotes membership on Executive Committee
Officers
Jon R. Campbell*, Chair, Wells-Fargo Bank
Richard K. Davis*, Immediate Past Chair, U.S. Bancorp
Michael Henson*, President and CEO
Nancy E. Lindahl*, Secretary, Deephaven MN
Steven Kennedy*, Treasurer, Faegre Baker Daniels
Life Directors
Nicky B. Carpenter*, Wayzata MN
Kathy Cunningham*, Mendota Heights MN
Luella G. Goldberg*, Minneapolis
Douglas Leatherdale*, The St. Paul Companies
Ronald E. Lund*, Eden Prairie, MN
Betty Myers, St. Paul MN
Marilyn C. Nelson, Carlson, Minneapolis MN
Dale R. Olseth, SurModics, Eden Prairie MN
Rosalyn Pflaum, Wayzata MN
Directors Emeriti
Margaret D. Ankeny, Wayzata MN
Andrew Czajkowski, Blue Cross & Blue Shield, St. Paul
Dolly J. Fiterman, Minneapolis
Beverly Grossman, Minneapolis
Karen H. Hubbard, Lakeland, MN
Hella Meaars Hueg, St. Paul MN
Joan A. Mondale, Minneapolis MN
Susan Platou, Wayzata MN
Directors
Emily Backstrom, General Mills, Minneapolis
Karen Baker*, Orono MN
Michael D. Belzer, Crescendo Project Board, Minneapolis
David L. Boehnen, St. Paul MN
Patrick E. Bowe*, Cargill, Wayzata MN
Margaret A. Bracken, Minneapolis
Barbara E. Burwell, Wayzata MN
Mari Carlson, Mt. Oliver Lutheran Church, Minneapolis
Jan M. Conlin, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, Minneapolis
Ken Cutler, Dorsey & Whitney, Edina
Jame Damian, Minneapolis
Jonathan F. Eisele*, Deloitte Service LP, Minneapolis
Jack W.. Eugster*, Excelsior MN
D. Cameron Findlay Medtronic, Minneapolis
Ben Fowke*, Xcel Energy, Minneapolis
Franck L. Gougeon, AGA Medical Corporation, Plymouth MN
Paul D. Grangaard, Allen Edmonds Shoe Corporation, Minneapolis
Jane P. Gregorson*, Minneapolis
Susan Hagstrum, Minneapolis
Jayne C. Hilde*, Satellite Shelters, Minneapolis
Karen L. Himle, HMN Financial, Minneapolis
Shadra J. Hogan, Minnetonka MN
Mary L. Holmes, Wayzata MN
Jay V. Ihlenfeld, St. Paul MN
Philip Isaacson, Nonin Medical, Plymouth MN
Nancy L. Jamieson, WAMSO, Bloomington
Lloyd G. Kepple, Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly, Minneapolis
Michal Klingensmith, Star Tribune Media, Minneapolis
Mary Ash Lazarus, Vestiges Inc, Minneapolis
Allen U. Lenzmeier, Best Buy, Minneapolis
Warren E. Mack, Fredrikson& Byron, Minneapolis MN
Harvey B. Mackay, Mackay Envelope Company, Minneapolis
James C. Melville*, Kaplan, Strangis and Kaplan, Minneapolis
Eric Mercer, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Minneapolis
Anne W. Miller, Edina MN
Hugh Miller, RTP, Winona MN
Anita M. Pampusch, Bush Foundation, St. Paul
Eric H. Paulson, Excelsior, MN
Teri E. Popp*, Wayzata MN
Chris Policinski, Land O’Lakes, St. Paul
Gregory J Pulles*, Minneapolis
Jady Ranheim, Young People’s Symphony Concert Assoc
Jon W. Salveson*, Piper Jaffray & Co, Minneapolis
Jo Ellen Saylor*, Edina
Sally Smith, Buffalo Wild Wings, Minneapolis
Gordon M. Sprenger*, Allina Hospitals and Clinics, Chanhassen
Sara Sternberger* WAMSO, Eagan MN
Mary S. Sumner, RBC Wealth Management, Minneapolis
Georgia Thompson, Minnetonka MN
Maxine Houghton Wallin, Edina
John Whaley, Norwest Equity Partners, Minneapolis
David S. Wichmann*, UnitedHealth Group, Minnetonka
John Wilgers, Ernst & Young, Minneapolis
Theresa Wise, Delta Air Lines, Eagan MN
Paul R. Zeller, Imation, Oakdale
Honorary Directors
Chris Coleman, Mayor, St. Paul MN
Barbara A. Johnson, President, Minneapolis City Council
Eric W. Kaler, President, University of Minnesota
R.T. Rybak, Mayor, Minneapolis MN.

From 11th and Marquette, December 5, 2012

Downtown Minneapolis from 11th and Marquette December 5, 2012

#657 – Dick Bernard: Watching the Spielberg film, Lincoln.

November 25, 2012/0 Comments/in History, Peace & Justice, Politics, War /by dickbernard

We went to Lincoln this afternoon. It was our second try. Last night was sold out at the local theatre. Today, the theatre was full.
The film, of the last three months of Lincoln’s life, and the passage of the 13th Amendment, is well worth the abundant kudos. It is worth seeing. Here’s one of many reviews, a commentary by Bonnie Blodget in today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Of all the American Presidents, I feel I know the most about Lincoln, having visited many of his haunts and memorials over the years, and read a lot about the era.
He is no stranger to me.
At the time of the film, early 1865, he had just turned 56 years of age, really in his youth. A line in the film from one of his cabinet members was that he had aged 10 years in the previous year. The emotional wear of America’s most disastrous Civil War could do that.
Most presidents age pretty quickly, in front of our eyes. They have a difficult job.
We tend to try to simplify major characters of history like Lincoln, and in the process lose track of some of the other realities of their lives. There was plenty of political chicanery involved in Lincoln’s reaching a destination – emanicipation of the slaves. The struggle was hard for a right which most of us now take for granted, and admire.
Politics can be a very nasty business – a contact sport. Lincoln had to play with the best.
(click to enlarge photos)

In the museum at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC, 2006

He served in politics at a time when it was as rough and tumble as any we experience today, and in his day, when the United States had roughly 10% of the our current population, the electorate was exclusively white men. One of the arguments against freeing the slaves was the very real and scary possibility that if Negroes were freed, and given rights as citizens, then women would want the right to vote – one gathers this was a rather horrifying thing to contemplate.
As it happens, the slaves were freed, and for a few short years were actually allowed their freedom, including the right to vote and own property. But in less than 20 years ways around that right were found, and it wasn’t until the 1960s when it became relatively certain that those rights would be relatively permanent, even in the most reluctant southern states.
Women, on the other hand, had a much longer wait for their right to vote. It wasn’t until 1920 that Women’s Suffrage became the law of the land. For probably obvious reason, that right, once granted, was not tampered with.

1910 Postcare to Grandma Busch on the farm in ND. Grandma was 26 at the time. Womens Suffrage was still ten years in the future.

We now live in a new world, now, and for some it is not a very comfortable world.
But winning justice is a slow and torturous process and people like Abe Lincoln and legions of others have brought us far.
Take some time to see Lincoln.
It gives much food for thought, along with a lot of history you may not have learned in school.

#651 – Dick Bernard: An American Hymn on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 2012

November 11, 2012/0 Comments/in Community, Peace & Justice, Politics, War /by dickbernard

Today I ushered at 9:30 Mass at Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. We had run out of the bulletins which contain hymns for the day and thus, as Communion was being completed, I was surprised when the magnificent Basilica Choir began to sing “O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain….”
Usually, a choir member leads the congregation in the singing, but in stanza one this did not happen, nor in stanza two. This was surprising, since at this Mass the congregation are robust participants in singing. This is not a quiet group.
I found a program booklet as the choir began stanza three, and noted why we weren’t singing (see photo below, click to enlarge).

By the time it was my turn to sing, I was too emotional. I didn’t regain composure until “America! America!”
It was a magnificent moment.
This year Armistice Day (others call it Veterans Day) happened to be on a Sunday.
Every year since Nov. 11, 2002, I’ve joined the MN Veterans for Peace (VFP) for their annual bell ringing: 11 bells at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11. A long time ritual commemorating the first such event, on November 11, 1918, when WWI officially ceased at 11 a.m.
I left Church a little early and made my way over to St. Paul and the USS Ward Memorial where, for a number of years, the VFP has had the bell-ringing ceremony. Some years I’ve been pensive about this event, this year I was enthusiastic. It was a dismal dreary day, and there was no place to park, so I found a space, put on my blinker lights, and walked over to the site to take a couple of photos. There seemed to be a pretty good crowd given the wet chilly day. When I was there, VFP President Larry Johnson was speaking.

Veterans for Peace at USS Ward First Shot Memorial, State Capitol Grounds St. Paul MN November 11, 2012

A block away, at the Vietnam Memorial, another group of people was commemorating Veterans Day.
We’ve just finished another grueling divisive election.
There is, once again, a call for doing things a bit differently.
This time it seems more serious: let’s find ways to talk civilly and tamp down the “win-lose” mentality.
Pastor John Bauer’s column in today’s Basilica Newsletter helps kick start the process. It is one of many. Bauer Civil Conversation001. Father Bauer and I don’t agree on everything, but that’s okay. Let’s talk civilly, and together help make America a little more Beautiful.

At the Fr. Hennepin Statue on Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, November 11, 2012

#641 – Dick Bernard: Election 2012 #59. Hurricane Sandy, the Regal Princess and the end-game of the 2012 U.S. Election

October 30, 2012/0 Comments/in Community, Politics, War /by dickbernard

A week from today the final voter will exit the polls somewhere in the United States and the 2012 election will be over except for the counting and the postmortems. Many of us have already voted. At this point few will change their minds.
We are barraged by messages of all sorts from all directions. The swill that passes for “information” in TV ads and independent expenditure mailers has been non-credible and unending, and will likely get worse.
We are buried in a flood of highly selective misinformation, from all sides on all issues. It is all designed to confuse and inflame and divide.
And Minnesota, where I write, is not even considered a “battleground state”. Oh, how it must be in those….
Last night I watched some of the incessant coverage of Hurricane Sandy, then hitting the east coast in conjunction with high tide. A day or two earlier, Sandy was described as “a truly massive storm on satellite. One of, if not the largest tropical cyclone to ever develop in the Atlantic basin” according to Accuweather.com. It had earlier devastated oft-beleaguered Haiti* for several days. As I write in early morning Oct 30, no one is sure of the extent of the damage this storm will inflict on the U.S.
Of course, the hurricane was about the only news last night, and that news was frequently interrupted by wave upon wave of political attack ads.
Some commentator talked about how we Americans put politics aside during times of crisis, such as during this storm. Nonetheless the ugly process of political destruction of the enemy other continued on its very profitable way. Indeed, someone else correctly noted that disasters are good times for business and the economy. What is wrecked has to be rebuilt. There is lots of money to be made….
In political campaigns, wreckage is the objective leading to a win; rebuilding is irrelevant. November 7 is day one to the next war two years out.
I got to thinking of we Americans – all of us – as passengers on a luxury liner. We’ve been on such a liner only one time, and that was on a Baltic cruise in June, 2003**. It was quite a vessel, the Regal Princess. (It now sails under another name out of another port in the Pacific).
(click to enlarge)

Princess Regal official photo 2003

You have to have money, either real or borrowed, to be on that kind of boat, and such vessels become little states of their owns: a Captain, crew, passengers…. Even in large vessels there is no room for disorder. They are communities.
What if we Americans were collectively sentenced to live on this luxury liner, endlessly sailing from place to place. And what if we had to confront ourselves daily, with our contemporary political system, where the constant emphasis was on taking control of the ship represented by the Captain and crew. Where one ‘sides’ priority prevailed, and the other side – the losers – were forced to comply with the winners wishes. The Captain, secure in the wheelhouse, set the course to wherever, whatever.
Oh, what a dismal vessel that luxury liner would be. The winner would win nothing whatsoever as the losers regrouped and sabotaged the winner. And maybe those losers would then win, putting a new Captain topside, with an entirely new crew.
But what would be won? Absolutely nothing. And how would the passengers benefit? Not at all.
Come to think of it, we are sentenced to life on this kind of luxury liner….
Next Tuesday night there will be election watch parties here and there. In the end, there will be the winners parties, and the losers parties.
The debris – and the hangovers – will be the same, whether at the winners or the losers party.
If we members of the wealthiest society ever known cannot figure out how to do Win-Win in politics, we are doomed to a truly dismal Lose-Lose future.
Vote wisely November 6.
My personal view: summarized here. Election 2012 in Search Box for a list of all the commentaries.
* – October 26, 2012: I am writing you to let you know of the situation in Haiti following Hurricane Sandy. I just returned from a trip to Port-au-Prince. The situation is devastating. The storm stayed for almost five days. The rain fell without ceasing. The wind was very strong. The streets are flooded. In some areas the water is waist deep. On my drive to and from Port-au-Prince, I saw many bridges that have fallen and are destroyed. I have seen streets that I pass everyday, now are rushing rivers. As much as this saddens me, I am not surprised. With the infrastructure we have, these results are to be expected. The departments that were affected the most were the South, South East, West, Nippes, and Grand Anse. It saddens me that school just began three weeks ago, and already there is another problem for the people of Haiti. There are many people who were still living in tents or in unsafe housing, and the hurricane took away what shelter they had. Hurricane Sandy has left many people displaced and with no place to turn to. Many families in Haiti already had a difficult time providing for their families. Now after the hurricane, it is more difficult to find food to eat, and people who give food cannot provide for everyone who needs it. I am asking for you to please continue to keep the people of Haiti in your prayers. It means so much to me, and to the Haitian people. Thank you so much for these prayers and for everything you have done for us already. It is appreciated so much. I cannot put into words how you have helped the people of Haiti.
Blessing to you,
Rev. Dr. Kesner Ajax
** – The highlight of that cruise was a visit to the magnificent Peterhof and Catherine Palaces outside St. Petersburg, Russia. The opulence was almost overwhelming. I couldn’t help but think of the peasants and artisans who built those luxurious places but never really shared in the wealth. Of course, nothing is ever permanent. Seated in our bus waiting to depart, we watched a couple of old beggar women. I was tempted to take a photograph, but it was too sad. It was an uncomfortable moment. History will continue to be the great leveler.
UPDATE October 31: It was gratifying to see Gov Christie of New Jersey and President Obama working together. It is how government should work.
Here are a couple of photos sent from NYC by my friend Michael Knox of the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. Michael was stranded in the city near one of the most photographed problems caused by Sandy.

New York City after the hurricane passed by.

Another view. Both photos by Michael Knox

#624 – Dick Bernard: Election 2012 #46 – 4000 days at War in Afghanistan

September 19, 2012/0 Comments/in Afghanistan/South Asia, Community, History, Links, Peace & Justice, Politics, War /by dickbernard

Someone has calculated that today, September 19, 2012, is the 4000th day of the beginning of the War in Afghanistan: the day the bombing began, October 7, 2001.
Except for isolated demonstrations, including one this afternoon from 5-6 p.m. at the Lake Street bridge in Minneapolis, there will be little attention paid to this anniversary.
One of the few newspaper articles I have kept for posterity is one from October 8, 2001: Afghanistan Oct 7 2001001
This is a short article, simply describing the results of a poll of Americans at the time about going to War. It is worth reading. If you don’t care to open it: succinctly, 94% of Americans approved of the bombing of Afghanistan for whatever reasons they might have had for the action.
For a politician to be against the war in 2001 would have been almost certain political suicide.
I was one of the 6% who, had I been asked, would have disapproved of the bombing in 2001.
My opinion wasn’t based on being anti-war, then, though it was that singular event that launched my subsequent activist life.
As a military veteran myself, in the Army at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, in a unit that was mobilized for possible action, I was not altruistic.
Very simply, on that dark day in 2001, I could see absolutely no long term good coming out of attacking a country, Afghanistan, whose only ‘sin’ was harboring an isolated bunch of terrorists who were soon to become enshrined in our political conversation as “al Qaeda” (which, to my knowledge, is simply an Arabic term, al-qa’ida: “the base”).
October 8, 2001, was a very lonely time to be against War, I can attest.
Only about one of twenty Americans agreed with me, and most thought there was going to be a long war, and were okay with the idea and (I suppose) thought that we’d “win” something or other.
Not long after, of course, our sights shifted to Iraq, a country which had nothing to do with 9-11-01.
Of course, our futile exercise in supposedly attempting to eliminate evil in the world is succeeding only in slowly destroying ourselves.
“The Base” has to be pleased.
I probably won’t change anybodies mind, but take a bit of time today to consider a few numbers related to that number 4000 (my apologies for any math errors):
2977 – the number of deaths on 9-11-01 (including citizens of over 90 countries, but excluding the 19 hijackers, none of whom were Afghan)
2686 – the number of days of War on President George W. Bush’s watch
1314 – the number of days of War on President Barack Obama’s watch
Nov. 9, 2009 – the approximate date where we’d been at war for 2977 days: one day of war per 9-11-01 casualty.
There is no prospect of ever “winning” the war against terrorism, or Afghanistan, yet we persist in our fantasy for all the assorted reasons we might have. There is no still sane politician who will argue that we must end war now, or ever.
The fault is not the politicians (unless we extend the definition of “politician” to include ourselves, each and every one of us.)
There is no truer example of the truth of Gandhi’s words “we must be the change we wish to see in the world”.
Start where you’re at, as an individual, today, now.
A good place to begin to focus is this Friday, September 21, the International Day of Peace. There are numerous links. Here is the one that is at the top of the google search list.
Personally, I’ll be over in New Richmond WI, witnessing 14 year old Eric Lusardi’s becoming an Eagle Scout (the public ceremony is at 4:00 p.m., New Richmond Community Commons). Part of the ceremony will be dedication of a Peace Site.
Eric exemplifies Gandhi, and I think he’s an exemplary example of youth for our future as a people and a planet.
For some personal inspiration for Peace, visit A Million Copies, here.