What is it that people continually denounce violence as evil, but they praise and honor those who commit violence? Put a person in uniform, preferably a white person, give him or her a gun, and Americans will worship him or her. If he or she kills the enemy, the more he or she is praised. It is a particularly childish trait, of a childlike culture, that insists on anointing all active military members and police officers as “heroes.” The rhetorical sloppiness and intellectual shallowness of affixing such a reverent label to everyone in the military or law enforcement betrays a frightening cultural streak of nationalism, chauvinism, authoritarianism and totalitarianism. (Salon, 11/9/14) You cannot stop violence by being violent to others, yet most people believe that violence to the enemy will lead to peace and happiness. Some even advocate that everyone should have a gun, a weapon whose only reason for being made is to do violence to another. Every year in the U.S. more than 7,000 children and teens are involved in shooting accidents with 3,000 of them dying. (AlterNet) Children are more likely to be shot and killed at home than anywhere else. Most Americans feel proud when their children go the military and take up weapons. Their children are saluted as “hometown heroes” at professional football games in front of thousands of cheering fans. The Military shelled out at least $54 million of U.S. taxpayer money to 14 N.F.L. teams between 2011 and 2014 o pay them to promote the military on and off the field and, hopefully, recruit more children to go abroad to do violence to their neighbors. (Common Dreams, 5/8/15) Our children are exposed to violence almost every day. Numerous news stories are broadcast on TV praising those who “serve our nation” by destroying the lives of the enemy. But many will say that watching 2 hours of violence on TV will not affect their behavior. If this is true, then why do advertisers pay $3.8 million for a 30 second ad on the Super Bowl telecast? Are they throwing away their money or do they know that these ads will lead many to buy their products? The best way to change our culture from violence to nonviolence is to invest in the teaching of nonviolence to our children in our families, schools, churches, institutions, games and TV. shows. This past Mother’s Day, Michelle Obama honored only women who are wives of soldiers. There was no mention of the original founder of Mother’s Day, Julia Ward Howe, who said, “Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs…….From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says ‘Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.” Since 1980, we have invaded, occupied and/or bombed at least 14 different Muslim countries. After the sacrifice of thousands of American lives and trillions of dollars, the region is now a cauldron of death and destruction. Yet, we persist, with no end in sight. ----Don Timmerman
“I have no country to die for. My country is the earth. I am a citizen of the world which consists of only one race – the human race.It is just as patriotic to keep your country from dying as it is to die for your country.” ----William Sloane
“Many powerful people don’t want peace because they live off war.” -----Pope Francis
“If you are more fortunate than others it is better to build a longer table than a taller fence.” ---Salud
JOKES
I couldn’t figure out how to fasten my seat belt, and then it clicked.
Mother: “Colleen, how come there were two pieces of cake on the shelf this morning, and now there is only one piece.” Colleen, “I don’t know. It must have been that it was too dark, and I did not see the other piece.”
Marv says losing weight is a triumph of mind over platter.
What do you get when you cross a saint with a kangaroo? An animal that has a pocketful of miracles.
A teacher tied all his students shoe laces together so they could have a class trip.
Mikayla: “I thought you were going bear hunting?” Cullom: “Well, I got as far as the Interstate.” Mikayla: :What happened?” Cullom: “I saw a sign that said, ‘Bear Left,’ so I came home.”
Why was the frog mad? Cause a ticket on his car said he would be toad.
Sarah: “Jim, Why did you take a very light mattress to the horse track?” Jim: “Cause I heard the bedding was heavy.”
Caitlin: “You say I’m messy, but I say my things are arranged in an abstract manner intentionally as a part of my unquenchable thirst for creative expression.”
A doctor examining Don who had been rushed to the Emergency Room, took Roberta aside and said, “I don’t like the looks of your husband at all.” “Me neither, doc, said Roberta, “But he is a great cook and really good with the kids”
Why don’t they make the whole plane out of the material used in making the indestructible black box? Book seller: “This book will cut your work in half,: Customer: “Good. Then I’ll take two.”
INTERESTING FACTS
NEEDS: Prayers, serving dishes, retaining wall repair at Lazarus House, baby formula, plastic baby cups, diapers
NOTES
THURSDAY, JUNE 25 -----STAND FOR NONVIOLENCE VIGIL at Brew City Shooters Supply, 43rd & Lincoln, Milw. from noon to 1 .m. Please join us in our efforts to convince people that guns are not the answer to peace and safety. Only love can do that. Christians, followers of Christ, should ask themselves, “Would Christ shoot someone with a gun”? A Stanford U. study found that guns lead to more, not less, crime. Right-to-carry laws lead to higher, not lower, rates of aggravated assault, rape, robbery and murder. Owners of guns are 5 times more likely to be shot. (Salon, 11/17/14 SAT., JUNE 27 -----IFCO/CARAVAN FOR PEACE TO CUBA. We are seeking material help, a vehicle and letters to Congress to support the lifting of the blockade and travel ban to Cuba. In June we are collecting school supplies, Bibles in Spanish, construction items, non-expired medicines and supplies, bikes, wheelchairs, walkers and cash donations at Central United Methodict Church, 19th & Wisconsin Ave. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday thru Friday. Contact: Wisconsin Coalition to Normalize Relations with Cuba, 633 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53203 414-273-1040
It is Memorial Day weekend. I keep hearing the stories of military people who died and children who joined the military to honor their parents who died in the military. I find it strange that we celebrate Mother’s Day and Memorial Day in the same month. Julia Ward Howe’s idea for mothers uniting for peace is remembered while on Memorial Day the falsehood of war producing peace is promoted by governments who send their young people out to do violence to others. Years ago, we gathered with other people in Washington D.C. to shut down the C.I.A., which we did for half a day. During my time there, I visited the Vietnam Memorial. It was a spring day, birds were singing and cherry blossoms were blooming when I faced the black wall full of names of young men who died. I stood there and cried. These young people should have been alive enjoying the spring day and the gentle blossom scented breeze. Instead they were dead. That was a monumental tragedy. Yet we continue to hear the drumbeat of patriotism without critically assessing that war produces devastation. With the help of our Creator we must have a change of heart, and find new ways of settling differences. Peace, Roberta
“I have no country to die for. My country is the earth. I am a citizen of the world which consists of only one race – the human race.It is just as patriotic to keep your country from dying as it is to die for your country.” ----William Sloane
“Many powerful people don’t want peace because they live off war.” -----Pope Francis
“If you are more fortunate than others it is better to build a longer table than a taller fence.” ---Salud
JOKES
I couldn’t figure out how to fasten my seat belt, and then it clicked.
Mother: “Colleen, how come there were two pieces of cake on the shelf this morning, and now there is only one piece.” Colleen, “I don’t know. It must have been that it was too dark, and I did not see the other piece.”
Marv says losing weight is a triumph of mind over platter.
What do you get when you cross a saint with a kangaroo? An animal that has a pocketful of miracles.
A teacher tied all his students shoe laces together so they could have a class trip.
Mikayla: “I thought you were going bear hunting?” Cullom: “Well, I got as far as the Interstate.” Mikayla: :What happened?” Cullom: “I saw a sign that said, ‘Bear Left,’ so I came home.”
Why was the frog mad? Cause a ticket on his car said he would be toad.
Sarah: “Jim, Why did you take a very light mattress to the horse track?” Jim: “Cause I heard the bedding was heavy.”
Caitlin: “You say I’m messy, but I say my things are arranged in an abstract manner intentionally as a part of my unquenchable thirst for creative expression.”
A doctor examining Don who had been rushed to the Emergency Room, took Roberta aside and said, “I don’t like the looks of your husband at all.” “Me neither, doc, said Roberta, “But he is a great cook and really good with the kids”
Why don’t they make the whole plane out of the material used in making the indestructible black box? Book seller: “This book will cut your work in half,: Customer: “Good. Then I’ll take two.”
INTERESTING FACTS
- Earlier this year, lawmakers passed a budget that slashes funding for nearly every vital domestic investment while shoveling nearly $40 billion into a massive slush fund at the Pentagon known as the Overseas Contingency Operations Account (OCO). The OCO slush fund will now be nearly $90 billion, on top of the $499 billion the Pentagon already gets in its regular budget. Robert Jay Lifton, the psychiatrist famous for his study of the doctors who aided Nazi war crimes, criticized the American Psychological Association (APA) for aiding government-sanctioned torture under President G.W. Bush. He alleges the APA secretly said that it would be ethical for the CIA to use torture to achieve its goals. Lifton said, “What the APA did was a scandal within a scandal. It undermines the fundamental ethical standards of the profession.----Democracy Now, 5/7/15
- A former CIA officer who briefed President G.W.Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney on intelligence, said that Bush and Cheney deliberately presented false information to the public about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and plans to use nuclear weapons. ----Democracy Now, 5/20/15
- Minimum amount New York City has spent to remove wet wipes from the sewer system since 2010 : $18,000,000 Estimated value of the metal particles in U.S. sewage : $3,316,000,000 ---Harper’s Index, June, 2015
- Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh revealed that top Pakistani military leaders knew about the hiding place of bin Laden and provided key assistance to the U.S. in capturing him. In return, the former Pakistani intelligence officer got $25 million from the U.S. The officer was aware of the location of bin Laden and held him “prisoner” at the Abbottabad compound since 2006. ----Democracy Now, 5/11/15
- Some 120 U.S. soldiers were inside Somalia since 2007, but this was never publicly announced. -----Reuters
- A new report finds that U.S. drone strikes kill 28 unidentified people for every intended target. A drone strike means that some innocent people are being killed. ------Democracy Now, 12/3/14
- Oceans cover two thirds of the earth’s surface. We’ve explored just 5% of them ----Daily Kos, 5/13/15 Fossil fuels corporations receive $5.3 trillion in global subsidies each year. That is $10 million per minute. ----Salon, /18/15
- Every child on earth could go to school if the world’s 1,646 richest people gave only 1.5% of their income toward education. ----Take Part Education
- Sacramento sells water to DS Services of America at 99 cents for every 748 gallons. That water is then bottled and sold at Walmart for 88 cents per gallon, meaning the $1 paid to Sacramento for water turns into $658.24 for Walmart and DS Services at a time when there is a drought in California. -----Salon, 5/11/15
- The world’s largest food company, Nestle, continues to bottle hundreds of millions of gallon of water in California and then sells it back to the Californians at a 1000% profit. The Morongo plant alone produces 1 billion bottles of water a year. Nestle is making a killing on California water. ------AVAAZ.org.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) says a child dies every 60 seconds from malaria. It also said that about 1 million people commit suicide every year, with 20 times that number tried but were unsuccessful. In the U.S. 60% of the suicides are done with a gun. Saudi Arabia, which executes more criminals than any nation except China and Iran, is hiring 8 new executioners. Executioners are considered “religious functionaries.” Saudi Arabia has also decided to acquire “off-the-shelf” atomic weapons from Pakistan. ----CLG, 5/17/15, 5/19/15
- The oil companies, Shell, ExxonMobil and Marathon, received subsidies through politicians after they received large campaign contributions from these fossil-fuel companies. In the U.S. $10 billion to $50 billion are given in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. Internationally, $775 billion to $1 trillion is given to the fossil fuel industry.----The Guardian, 5/12/15
- The U.S. military spends $10.5 to $500 billion annually to defend overseas oil interests. U.S. taxpayers pay billions each year for infrastructure damages and health problems brought on by the fossil fuel industry. (Oil Change)
- In the U.S. there are 70,000 unsafe bridges needing repair. The dams are all over 50 years old. More and more oil trains are potential bombs. ----Salon, 5/13/15
NEEDS: Prayers, serving dishes, retaining wall repair at Lazarus House, baby formula, plastic baby cups, diapers
NOTES
THURSDAY, JUNE 25 -----STAND FOR NONVIOLENCE VIGIL at Brew City Shooters Supply, 43rd & Lincoln, Milw. from noon to 1 .m. Please join us in our efforts to convince people that guns are not the answer to peace and safety. Only love can do that. Christians, followers of Christ, should ask themselves, “Would Christ shoot someone with a gun”? A Stanford U. study found that guns lead to more, not less, crime. Right-to-carry laws lead to higher, not lower, rates of aggravated assault, rape, robbery and murder. Owners of guns are 5 times more likely to be shot. (Salon, 11/17/14 SAT., JUNE 27 -----IFCO/CARAVAN FOR PEACE TO CUBA. We are seeking material help, a vehicle and letters to Congress to support the lifting of the blockade and travel ban to Cuba. In June we are collecting school supplies, Bibles in Spanish, construction items, non-expired medicines and supplies, bikes, wheelchairs, walkers and cash donations at Central United Methodict Church, 19th & Wisconsin Ave. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday thru Friday. Contact: Wisconsin Coalition to Normalize Relations with Cuba, 633 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53203 414-273-1040
It is Memorial Day weekend. I keep hearing the stories of military people who died and children who joined the military to honor their parents who died in the military. I find it strange that we celebrate Mother’s Day and Memorial Day in the same month. Julia Ward Howe’s idea for mothers uniting for peace is remembered while on Memorial Day the falsehood of war producing peace is promoted by governments who send their young people out to do violence to others. Years ago, we gathered with other people in Washington D.C. to shut down the C.I.A., which we did for half a day. During my time there, I visited the Vietnam Memorial. It was a spring day, birds were singing and cherry blossoms were blooming when I faced the black wall full of names of young men who died. I stood there and cried. These young people should have been alive enjoying the spring day and the gentle blossom scented breeze. Instead they were dead. That was a monumental tragedy. Yet we continue to hear the drumbeat of patriotism without critically assessing that war produces devastation. With the help of our Creator we must have a change of heart, and find new ways of settling differences. Peace, Roberta