Buddhist temple 4th of July parade

Six dead, dozens wounded in shooting rampage at July 4th, 2022, parade in Chicago

• Farce of July, L.A. XRF - Xicano/a Records &Films

Is it time for a veggie BBQ, cold soft drinks under a hot sun, and a comfy lawn chair to watch the fireworks show? Ah, North America, the US of A, knows how to party. It's like Cinco de Mayo, which is not any kind of Independence Day but still a time for patriotism and intemperate celebration. In Alameda, it once seemed like a good idea to have a parade. Then it was time to grill, first Buddha's Delight then some seared tempeh strips with BBQ sauce, and finally Buddha Bowls for everyone.

Fourth of July party pooper Bobby Crimo, the Highland Park shooter, looks like a girl

XRF Presents the 25th Farce of July 2022

Happy Veterans Day (video)

Veterans For Peace, 4/16; Pfc. Sandoval, Pat Macpherson, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(The DKs) What are the real causes and purposes of war? Kinky Sex Makes the World Go Around.

Peace At Home, Peace Abroad

Veterans For Peace (veteransforpeace.org) is an international organization made up of military veterans, military family members, and allies. It is dedicated to building a culture of peace, exposing the true costs of war, and healing the wounds of war. The network is made up of over 120 chapters across the United States and abroad.

Vietnam War: McNamara's Morons


McNamara's Folly: The Use of Low-IQ Troops in the US War on Vietnam
(April 29, 2016) This is a brief presentation and reading by Hamilton Gregory, author of McNamara's Folly: The Use of Low-IQ Troops in the Vietnam. Because so many college students were dodging the draft avoiding military service during the Vietnam War, Defense Secretary of War Robert McNamara lowered mental standards to induct 354,000 retarded low-IQ men. Their death toll in combat was appalling. It's almost as if war were used to take "undesirables" out of the general population like the Dead Kennedys sing about in the Wargasm song "Kinky Sex Makes the World Go Around."

Statement of Purpose

American government liars killed my children.

"We, having dutifully served our nation, do hereby affirm our greater responsibility to serve the cause of world peace. To this end we will work, with others:

• To increase public awareness of the costs of war
• To restrain our government from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations
• To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons
• To seek justice for veterans and victims of war
• To abolish war as an instrument of national policy.
• To achieve these goals, members of Veterans For Peace pledge to use non-violent means and to maintain an organization that is both democratic and open with the understanding that all members are trusted to act in the best interests of the group for the larger purpose of world peace.

Veterans from any branch of military service are invited to join.

• Sign up online: bit.ly/20Mhxxy
• Connect online: @VFPNational
• facebook.com/VeteransForPeace
• veteransforpeace.org

Reading Tolstoy's "War and Peace" (video)

BBC.com; voinaimir.com; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

Many Russians are unhappy with Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin (FEMEN.org)

Buddhism in Russia

Russian film stars, a cosmonaut in space, and French actress Fanny Ardant are among 1,300 people reading Leo Tolstoy's epic War and Peace live on the Internet -- a 60-hour marathon spread over four days.

• WATCH LIVE (voinaimir.com)

The event was organized by Russian state broadcasters, and it is being streamed online for four days [or listen below].

 

Places that feature in the novel were chosen as settings for some chapters, including the Borodino battlefield, where in 1812 Napoleon's troops fought the Russians.

 

Leo Tolstoy wrote about aristocrats.

War and Peace was published in 1869.

 

The novel -- one of [imperial] Russia's greatest works of literature -- follows the lives of aristocratic Russian families during the French invasion in the early 19th Century. More

Buddhism in Russia?

Is good! I go topless and read.

The Story of Agvan Dorzhiev: Lhasa's Emissary to the Tsar tells a fascinating story of political and religious intrigue.

It is about Agvan Dorziev, a Mongolian Buddhist lama, who was instrumental in the founding of Buddhism in Russia. It includes an update on the status of Buddhism in Russia since glasnost and includes photos. 

• A History of Buddhism in Russia: Return to Saint Petersburg
• Remembering John Snelling
• Cultural struggle to define Russia's identity 
• The secret to a happy life - courtesy of Tolstoy
• Leo Tolstoy - The Literature Network
• Leo Tolstoy on Facebook
• Ade Edmondson takes on War and Peace role for BBC TV

The 4-day, 60 hour marathon reading is, alas, in Russian. So here it is in English:

At War with FEAR (Pema Chodron)

Buddhist nun Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart; "Sucker Punch" samurai (video)

Samurai Girl 3 (Deseo-One)

Once there was a young warrior. Her teacher told her that she had to do battle with fear. She didn't want to do that. 

  

It seemed too aggressive; it was scary; it seemed unfriendly. 

  

But the teacher said she had to do it and gave her the instructions for the battle. The day arrived. 

  

The student warrior stood on one side, and fear stood on the other. The warrior was feeling very small, and fear was looking big and wrathful. They both had their weapons. 

  

Samurai Girl (imdb.com)

The young warrior roused herself and went toward fear, prostrated three times, and asked, "May I  have permission to go into battle with you?" 

  

Fear said, "Thank you for showing me so much respect that you ask permission." 

  

Then the young warrior said, "How can I defeat you?" 

  

Fear replied, "My weapons are that I talk fast, and I get very close to your face. Then you get completely unnerved, and you do whatever I say. 

  

"If you don't do what I tell you, I have no power.
 

Teddy, Samurai Girl 1, and mask (Deseo-One)

"You can listen to me, and you can have respect for me. You can even be convinced by me. But if you don't do what I say, I have no power."

  

In that way, the student warrior learned how to defeat fear.

  

This is how it actually works. There has to be some kind of respect for the jitters, some understanding of how our... More

"If you no longer believe what fear tells you, you will live and it will not"

- Zen teacher Cheri Huber

Memorial Day: What WAR is like (video)

Chris Hedges; UCtelevision

  (UC TV) Begins in earnest at Minute 10. April 2012, Humanities, Show ID: 22837

(UCTV.tv) War correspondent, journalist, author Christopher Hedges speaks of the despair, destruction, love, and truth he found during his long career of covering wars and social justice movements throughout the world. Hedges is interviewed by Dean Nelson as part of the 17th annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University.

  

How is war -- and covering war -- like an addiction, a powerful narcotic?

Soldiers and Marines call it a "combat high." And it's real. You know? First of all, combat itself is a kind of Zen-like experience. I mean even colors are brighter. You're aware or present in ways that you never were before. A battlefield can replicate a variety of synthetic drug trips, hallucinogenic landscapes after heavy shelling. You never sleep, you know that kind of zombie, hashish-like state? And it is a world that perverts and deforms and destroys you. And if you spend long enough in its grip, it's very hard to fit in anywhere else...

Yeah, but when I read Hemingway, he made it sound pretty cool! And I read your stuff, and you say it messed you up.

Hemingway... yeah... romance... that mythic version of war, which isn't real.

WARNING: Coarse language, animal slaughter, and extreme violence. American military-industrial complex brings war to Buddhist Vietnam.

• "The horror" of war (Apocalypse Now)
• VIDEO: A perverse "Buddhist" wonderland 

"Why We Fight" (war and peace video)

SEE FULL FEATURE FREE: Documentary: "Why We Fight?" (1:38:41)

Atheists Unveil Ad Campaign for Holidays

O'Reilly Factor: Anti-God Campaign Ahead of Holidays (Fox News)

War on Earth and Goodwill to All

Israel not interested in peace: Syria's Assad
(Reuters, Dec. 23, 2009) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that peace talks with Israel had been stalled because Israel was not interested in achieving peace.

World Hunger? 4 reasons you feel "fake hungry"
Eating meals made up of certain foods can leave you feeling hungrier. Energy-boosting foods - 5 major eating mistakes - Fruits with high fiber

Burma to buy Russian MiG planes
(BBC) Russia has signed a contract to deliver 20 MiG-29 fighter planes to Burma, Russian media reports say. The contract is worth 400m euros ($570m), sources close to the Russian arms firm Rosoboronexport say. Many countries in the West have imposed sanctions against Burma, in response to its poor human rights record.

Movement In Burma?
(VOA, Dec. 21, 2009) Detained Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi for the first time in nearly a year was allowed to meet with elder members of her opposition political party, the National League of Democracy. The Nobel Peace laureate was taken from her home in Rangoon where she is under house arrest...for a brief opportunity to...ask permission to reorganize the party.

Lying about reading

"Most Britons have lied about the books they read" (Reuters)

LONDON, [Britain] – Two out of three Britons have lied about reading books they have not, and George Orwell's "1984" tops the literary fib list, according to a survey published Thursday [3/5/09].

Commissioned by organizers of World Book Day, an annual celebration of reading in Britain, the study also shows that the author people really enjoy reading is J.K. Rowling, creator of the bestselling Harry Potter wizard series.

According to the survey, 65 percent of people have pretended to have read books, and of those, 42 percent singled out "1984." Next on the list came "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy and in third place was James Joyce's "Ulysses."

The Bible was in fourth position, and newly elected President Barack Obama's autobiography "Dreams from My Father" came ninth. More>>