Can Buddhist monks talk about politics?

(Walk for Peace 2026) After the peace walk, someone in Washington DC asked Venerable Pannakara about politics: The room fell silent

'Civil War' - feelgood letter to Trump's DC?

Civil War | official final trailer HD | A24

(A24) April 2024: From writer and director Alex Garland and starring Cailee Spaeny, Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, and Stephen McKinley Henderson. CIVIL WAR – is in theaters in the middle of April 2024.

What the H kind of BS is this, Hollywood?

What can be said about this masterpiece? That Kirsten Dunst is not the person for the part, so the part is altered to make her fit? Protagonist and newcomer Cailee Spaeny is thrust into the turmoil of a real-life breakdown of law and order we normally take for granted. The good ol' boys with their AR-15 now run things, to the extent anyone does. There's a force at play, but who knows where it's coming from? Is it the Western Front or the powers that be? How could the government fall, how could it give up, how could the Trump character be so oblivious to what's going on? Maybe the president is an amalgam of Trump's foolish swagger and Biden's dementia and cluelessness. Maybe he is merely portraying an enfeebled white man losing his grip. This is a coming-of-age story yet not in the sexual sense. It's learning the hard lessons of life in a crash course at the School of Hard Knocks. One has to imagine MAGA types will flock to theaters. One also imagines they will be disappointed but not disappointed enough to not still want a shot at another insurrection and second chance to set up a white supremacy social system of us versus them. The them could be whomever does not fall in line with what's familiar.

WQ COMMENTARY

I had trouble keeping up and fell asleep.

It's very easy to take sides in this film. The only problem is it's not altogether clear what the sides are. We think we know, though it doesn't make sense that that's how the board would be drawn. But that is how it's drawn. So we, as liberal average people of the West Coast know where we stand. The people in the middle try to stand out of the way. And is the East taking a stand? It must be. Who knows how we got here that they are failing. That's why it's a love letter to viewers or at least the right kind of viewers. MAGAots are bound to be unhappy with how things are playing out, even though on the surface this is what they wanted, right? It's hard to say too much but not impossible. So we won't ruin the film with spoilers. However, without them, one might well leave scratching one's head. Where do the filmmakers stand? How did things get this good that it's the beginning of the end? The love letter may be to viewers with a big FU to Joedon Trumpen. (Or is his name Donjo Bidump? It doesn't really matter. They're the same). But who trained all of these combatants? The hicks with AR-15s are one thing. We're asking about the uniformed ones? It's nice to follow Cailee as she grows into her new career and learns so much so quickly even as nearly everything goes away. Message? It seems safe to say that if you made this movie, you would not have made it this way. There were obviously writers brought in to fix and smooth out the story, and they did a good job of that so that it must have passed the test audience complaints, except perhaps for the most obvious one. But then that's the point, isn't it, Garland?

• Like CIVIL WAR on FACEBOOK: bit.ly/CivilWar_FB. Follow CIVIL WAR on TWITTER: bit.ly/CivilWar_TW. Follow CIVIL WAR on INSTAGRAM: bit.ly/CivilWar_IG.

Civil War (2024) breakdown: Ending explained and details missed

(New Rockstars) April 15, 2024: Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men, Devs) moves onto a new controversial project called Civil War, which imagines a dystopian United States in a civil war against a fascist president played by Nick "Donald Biden" Offerman. Erik Voss analyzes this film scene by scene to explain some of the real-world parallels and influences on this film and the deeper meaning to be taken away from it.

Alex Garland’s Civil War is a new Hollywood movie with a breakdown and analysis by Erik Voss. Thanks to Conflict of Nations for sponsoring this video. Play Conflict of Nations for FREE on PC or Mobile: 💥 con.onelink.me/kZW6/rngeq9ob. Receive an amazing new player pack, only available for the next 30 days. Civil War review, ending explained, and full movie breakdown by New Rockstars’ Erik Voss.

• A2New Rockstar's Erik Voss (breakdown); A24 trailer; Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly COMMENTARY

Monty Python: Peasants vs. Royals (TV)

How accurate is Monty Python's anarcho-syndicalist socialist collective commune peasant scene?

(Yestervid) March 19, 2021. Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s anarcho-syndicalist peasant scene is one of the funniest parts of the film. In it, two peasants claim that they’re living in an autonomous collective, a small self-governed society that doesn’t answer to a higher power, such as a lord, a king or a government. It seems like it’s a crazy idea and just part of the zany humour of the film. But how accurate is this scene? Could a society like this have existed back in the middle ages, and how would it work? It was a question recently posed on Reddit, and there were some truly fascinating answers. Let’s look into it.

Thanks to Redditors Wifi-Knight, Mike Dash, J-Force, and Airborne Walrus for their insights. Here's the original question on reddit: reddit.com/r/AskHistorian... See more great vids like this on our channel: yestervid, yestervid.com, facebook.com/yestervid, twitter.com/yestervid.

Sixties' REVOLUTION (film)

Weather Underground (Vimeo); Diego Rivera, Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

(Ro*co Films) The Weather Underground: The Explosive Story of America's Most Notorious Revolutionaries weaves the story of the rise and fall of a controversial group of idealistic young people (an offshoot of SDS or the Students for a Democratic Society) who -- outraged by the War on Vietnam [and Cambodia and Laos] and racism in America -- tried to violently overthrow the U.S. government during the 60s and 70s with countless acts of domestic terrorism. This is a cautionary tale for today's volatile times. More

☿ Liberation: Ireland's Condom Train (video)

TheJournal.ie; Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Contraceptive Train ran on May 22, 1971. Feminists from the Irish Women's Liberation Movement bought condoms, spermicidal jelly, and aspirin (in place of the pill) to give out.

The Condom Train incident

What's the big fuss then? Ya eat these?

There is a new tribute to the 1971 Contraceptive Train, which changed Ireland's sexual landscape forever: a musical has been written about the Irish women's movement.

One Saturday morning in May 1971, 49 Irish women changed the social landscape of Ireland when they took a train from Belfast to Dublin.

Archive @irishtimes pic of Contraceptive Train in 1971. Mairin Johnston made the iconic IWLM banner in her kitchen! pic.twitter.com/ZJEk7vz8ll— Rough Magic (@RoughMagicIRL) Sept. 19, 2015 Source: Rough Magic/Twitter

Power to ♀☿ of the world!

The women were part of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement, and they made news all over the world when they brought condoms down from Northern Ireland [UK], while contraception was illegal in the Republic [of Ireland].

It was a landmark moment in the Irish women’s movement, which became known as the contraceptive train. The story is being brought to the stage next month in the form of a musical, The Train. 

• The Contraceptive Train on Track for Abbey Theatre! Critically acclaimed musical "The Train" inspired by true story
  

Beginning split between Church and State

We could use more condoms in U.S.

While contraception was available in the North, the women couldn’t get their hands on the pill on the trip as they didn’t have a prescription, so they bought large amounts of condoms.

 

They also decided to buy hundreds of aspirin tablets [to mimic the pill] and publicly swallowed them at the station, as customs officials wouldn’t immediately know the difference.

 

India still won't allow saucy condom ads.

Director of The Train and Rough Magic Artistic Director Lynne Parker said, “The IWLM and The Contraceptive Train marked the beginning of the split between Church and State -- a schism that is ongoing.” More

Hey, YOU, prevent pregnancy with easy contraception. Sign banned in U.S. and Ireland.

• Ireland must remove the shackles from its women (CNN 2018) In 1971, 47 years ago, a group of Irish feminists boarded a train to and from Belfast, Northern Ireland (part of UK) so they could buy condoms, which were not available in the [South of the island known as the] Republic of Ireland.
• The "Contraceptive Train" spawns musical (The Irish Times)
• "By getting on that train, a group of brave women made the Catholic Church and the Irish state look ridiculous"
  
• RTÉ Archives: Condom Train and Women in the Media Journalist Nell McCafferty and broadcaster Marian Finucane reminisce about the 1971 condom train.



When God Was a Woman

• “A Basic Issue of Women's Liberation”: The Feminist This event, which became known as the “Contraceptive Train” or “Condom Train,” highlighted the hypocrisy of Ireland's laws on contraception. 
• Mary Kenny, a women's liberator (spiked-online.com) The one-time feminist firebrand talks to the spiked review about her...known as the "condom train" – an attempt to challenge Ireland's rigid...

Let's question ANTI-gun protesters (video)

Brian Young (HighImpactFlix.com, High Impact Flix, March 24, 2018); AP.org; Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Let's ban guns and live in a police state of government protection, please! (AP.org)

March For Our Lives protesters unmasked:

"We Want Untrustworthy Government in Control"?

#Enough. Enough is enough? Do you trust the government? No! I don't either. Do you want to stop gun violence? Yes! Me, too.

Do you want guns banned? Yes! Who do you want to ban the guns? The government. The government you don't trust? Uhhh.

Who's pulling your strings, writing out your list of official demands, producing your videos and events? We are! We're doing it ourselves! Nobody's helping us (except police, principals, government, and all the people we don't trust). I guess we CAN trust them! Trust them to take away all of our rights, you mean? Yeah.

We want more police and government control

While we're banning bump stocks to get at all guns (because as the famous speaker on the stage, Emma Gonzalez, just said, "When they give us an inch, let's take a mile"), let's also ban cellphones in the hands of teens. Why? I need my cellphone! Drivers with cellphones kill thousands of innocent people every year, way more than "assault weapons." Really?

• Pew Research Center: Public Trust in Government: 1958-2017 (people-press.org, May 3, 2017) Public trust in the government remains near historic lows. Only 18% of Americans today say they can trust the government in DC to do...
• Pew: Americans don't trust government and are angry about it (govexec.com, Dec. 2017) Public trust in government's ability to solve major problems remains near a historic low, according to a new national poll by the Pew Research Center. Only 18 percent...said they trust the federal government to do the right thing...
• I Don't Trust The Government (Facebook) Governments world-wide have participated in acts of violence and tyranny... [Most people are killed by their own government, which is called "democide." When shot, it is usually with government guns in the hands of government authorities, police and soldiers. You want them (the government) to have guns but deprive us and yourself of protection?]

Like these videos and want to support more content on this heavily censored, demonetized channel? Grab a shirt. My snail mail:

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(Don't Speak) Secret Service? How dare you question what started this all!
 

Proof of what "March for Our Lives" is REALLY about

 
Dick's Sporting Goods: What the media didn't tell us

Something you NEED to know about cops before your next crisis!

(Nuance Bro) Interviewing gun control demonstrators

A SHOCKING FACT about guns they don't want you to know

The Parkland "event" - what obvious thing are we missing?

Cambodia: violent clashes injure hundreds

Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Lindsay Murdoch (TheAge.com.au)

Cambodian protesters throw stones at police in Phnom Penh, Sept. 15, 2013 (AFP).

 

Discoveries in the jungle (WQ)

Police fired smoke grenades and water cannons in clashes with hundreds of demonstrators on Phnom Penh's waterfront on Sunday evening, leaving one protester dead and hundreds injured, amid heightened tensions in the Cambodian capital over the country's disputed national elections.

 

Opposition supporters are threatening to continue mass rallies ahead of the first scheduled session of parliament on September 23 which opposition leaders have declared they will boycott.

"Our vote is our life...they stole our votes; it's like stealing our lives."

Sam Rainsy, leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), told about 20,000 protestors at a Sunday rally that opposition MPs will refuse to attend parliament unless the government of strongman prime minister Hun Sen allows an independent investigation into allegations of widespread vote rigging at the July 28 poll. More   

 

 

• Indian rapists' lawyer warned over "misogyny"
• Sex Party points finger at minor rival over preference form bungle
• Push for new law to target STD chlamydia
• Hilarious photos taken at the right moment Perfectly Timed Pictures

White terrorist kills to lay blame on Muslims

Wisdom Quarterly

Who faked a Facebook profile for the white mass murderer encouraging others? Are the clandestine services trying to inspire copycat crimes? (solidprinciples.com)

Anders Behring Breivik is a white, 32 year old, pro-Israel, Norwegian Christian man who has already allegedly confessed to murdering 90+ people in Norway. He carried out the planned terrorist attack by first bombing government offices in an attempt to assassinate the prime minister -- then shooting scores of students with an automatic weapon on a nearby island during a political youth retreat on July 22, 2011 while dressed as a police officer.

He had written a 1,500 page "manifesto" encouraging others. It was a "false flag" attack: His motive was to have Muslims blamed for it and massacred in retaliation by Christian Europeans. He has claimed that his acts -- common in state-sponsored violence/war and PsyOps/propaganda -- mean he is not a "criminal."

• Rupert Murdoch's FOX NEWS blames "Al Qaeda" for Oslo
• Who made Anders Behring Breivik's fake Facebook profile?
• Congress to vote on declaration of World War III

The injured after Oslo terrorist attack (ibtimes.com)

Buddhist monks vow anti-government protests

Burma's Saffron Revolution was led by Buddhist monks, brothers of the Sri Lankan Sangha

(Sify News) Sri Lanka's influential Buddhist clergy vowed on Monday to launch a wave of anti-government protests after police arrested a dozen monks who demanded the release of the jailed former army chief. The National Bhikkhu Front (NBF) accused President Mahinda Rajapakse's government of committing an "unforgivable [error]" when police beat and arrested 12 monks staging a fast outside the main railway station in the capital Colombo. "The fast was to press for the release of General Sarath Fonseka," NBF head Dambara Amila told reporters in Colombo. "The government will have to pay for this." More>>

Buddhist monks fast to death for Fonseka’s release
(Daily Mirror) Four Buddhist monks who are members of the newly formed "People’s Forum for Redemption of the General" began a fasting campaign calling for the immediate release of detained General (Retired) Sarath Fonseka yesterday. The death fast was being carried out in front of the Fort Railway Station where a hut had been erected for the monks. Banners calling for the release of Fonseka were seen near the spot together with continuous chanting of protective chants (pirith).

• Protests in formerly Buddhist Kyrgyzstan
• (Buddhism in ancient Central Asia)

Thai Chaos: The Battle for Bangkok

Thai chaos continues (CBC.ca)

During Song Krang (Thai New Years), demonstrators are being driven back by the army. Red Shirts (protesters) are motivated by anti-government sentiment: de-mocracy failed when Abhisit succeeded in a coup, ousting Prime Minister Shinawatra.

• Thai Police, Residents Clash (BBC)

Thai prime minister asks lawmakers to end crisis [after sixth day of protests]

Sutin Wannabovorn (AP)

Anti-government protesters cheer at a rally at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday night, Aug. 30, 2008. Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej faced mounting pressure to resign Saturday as anti-government protesters occupied his headquarters for a fifth day and disrupted rail and air service in some of the country's most popular tourist destinations (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit).

BANGKOK, Thailand — Thailand's prime minister acknowledged that his administration cannot control spiraling anti-government protests and urged Parliament to find a political solution during an emergency session Sunday.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej once again refused to resign as thousands of protesters camped out at his official compound for a sixth day. "I will not bow. I will not step down and I will not resign — despite the pressure mounting on my government," said Samak, speaking in his weekly television program Sunday, hours before the joint session of Parliament.

Samak said his government and the courts were unable to restore calm after they tried and failed to evict the protesters. The crowd size has ranged from 2,000 to about 30,000, and protesters have turned the government's headquarters into a disheveled campground with tents, portable toilets and piles of garbage. "Since the government cannot resolve the problem — even the courts cannot resolve the problem — the joint session of Parliament is the best choice for finding a solution," Samak said.

The prime minister has received the backing of his six-party ruling coalition, which said it would not dissolve parliament to call new elections. More than 1,000 government supporters staged a counter-rally Sunday in front of Parliament, about a half-mile from Government House. The unrest peaked Friday when police fired tear gas to stop thousands of protesters from attacking the city's police headquarters, which is near the prime minister's compound.

In other parts of the country, rail workers joined the protest by halting service on dozens of trains. Protesters forced airports to shut at some of the country's most popular beach destinations.

Phuket airport remained closed Sunday, with protesters blocking the runway for a third day. Authorities said they had no idea when flights would resume. Krabi airport reopened after a two-day closure. Protesters say that Western-style democracy has allowed corruption to flourish and they want a new government with a parliament in which most of the lawmakers are appointed and only 30% elected.

The protest organizers, the People's Alliance for Democracy, accuse Samak's government of corruption and of serving as a proxy for ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 coup. Thaksin was banned from public office until 2012 and recently fled to self-imposed exile in Britain to escape an array of corruption charges.

Samak led Thaksin's political allies to a December 2007 election victory, and their assumption of power triggered fears that Thaksin would make a political comeback on the strength of his continued popularity with Thailand's rural majority.

Samak had requested a Saturday meeting with Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej at his seaside palace in Hua Hin, south of the capital, Bangkok. There was no immediate confirmation from either Samak or the palace on whether the meeting took place. Bhumibol is a constitutional monarch with no formal political role, but he has repeatedly brought calm in times of turbulence during his 60 years on the throne.

An anti-government protester cheers in front a billboard denouncing ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Potjaman Shinawatra in the Royal Plaza in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008. Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej faced mounting pressure to resign Saturday as anti-government protesters occupied his headquarters for a fifth day and disrupted rail and air service in some of the country's most popular tourist destinations (AP Photo/Vincent Yu).

Thai police use tear gas to disperse protesters

Buddhist monks sit with anti-government protesters during a demonstration inside Government House in Bangkok, on August 28. Thai anti-government protesters besieging Government House expelled about 1,000 police from the compound early Friday, testing the prime minister's promise to end the rally peacefully (AFP).

Sutin Wannabovorn (AP)

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thai police used tear gas to disperse a crowd of several thousand anti-government protesters who were besieging city police headquarters. The prime minister said he might declare a state of emergency if the rioting worsens.

Associated Press journalists witnessed police throwing dozens of canisters of gas at the crowd of at least 2,000 people. Protest leaders claimed they had come to demand the surrender of officers who allegedly beat demonstrators earlier in the day.

Tensions rose Friday, three days after members of the People's Alliance for Democracy occupied Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's office compound to demand his ouster.

.

Anti-government protesters shout at Government House in Bangkok. Thai anti-government protesters besieging Government House expelled about 1,000 police from the compound early Friday, testing the prime minister's promise to end the rally peacefully (AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul).

The alliance accuses Samak's government of serving as a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and faces several pending corruption cases. Thaksin is in self-imposed exile in Britain.

Alliance sympathizers also staged actions in other parts of the country, causing railway and airline delays and cancellations.

• Thread to VIDEO

More than 200 railway workers staged a work stoppage by taking emergency sick leave, forcing the cancellation of 35 trains from Bangkok to major provinces, said State Railways of Thailand spokesman Pairat Rojcharoen-ngarm.

Protesters also tried to block passengers from entering three airports in southern Thailand, at Hat Yai, Krabi and the popular tourist destination of Phuket. Airport authorities announced that all three airports would close Friday night for safety reasons, causing flights in and out to be canceled.

Anti-government protesters push line of Metropolitan Police in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, 8/29/08. Thai police muscled into crowds of anti-government protesters occupying the prime minister's office compound Friday to deliver a court order demanding they leave, sparking scuffles that left several people with minor injuries (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn).

Earlier Friday, several skirmishes erupted outside the Government House as police and protesters jockeyed for position.

In the morning, police muscled into the site to deliver a court eviction demanding that the alliance members leave the site. Several minor injuries were reported throughout the day as brief skirmishes erupted around the perimeter of the compound and in nearby streets.

Police then announced that they would retreat in order to ease tensions.

"The situation was very volatile and a clash was likely if we pushed on," police spokesman Surapol Tuantong told the NBT TV network. "We have given way to let them back into the Government House to prevent a clash. All security forces have left the government compound."

But protesters then descended on the police station.

"We went there to demand responsibility from the police who ordered the beatings of protesters," said alliance spokesman Suriyasai Katasila. "They responded by firing tear gas at us."

Thai monk joins a rally outside Government house in Bangkok, 8/29/08 (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit).

About 10 people suffered minor injuries in that clash.

Earlier, Sondhi Limthongkul, a protest leader, vowed to continue the protests until Samak steps down.

"We definitely won't leave the Government House until we can topple Samak's administration," Sonthi told The Associated Press. "He cannot stay on for long, I am very sure of that. You can see people coming more and more to join us."

Sondhi promised that the alliance would install a "clean and efficient political system."

Arrest warrants were issued Wednesday for nine of the group's leaders on charges of insurrection, conspiracy, illegal assembly and refusing orders to disperse. Insurrection, the legal equivalent of treason, carries a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment.

Protesters deck on the ground as Thai police shoot tear gas into them in Bangkok, 8/29/08 (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn).

Riot police scuffle with demonstrators outside the United Nations Building in Bangkok, 8/29/08 (AP Photo/Wally Santana).

Another court issued an order late Wednesday demanding that the protesters leave the government compound immediately and stop blocking streets. But on Friday, the court suspended the order, saying it posed a risk of further unrest.

Samak, who refuses to resign, has accused the protesters of trying to provoke violence.

After Thaksin was deposed in the bloodless coup, his party was dissolved and he was banned from public office until 2012.

Thailand's embattled prime minister has vowed to end massive rallies against his rule without force -- raising the spectre of a prolonged siege of Bangkok's main government compound (AFPTV).

But Samak led Thaksin's political allies to a December 2007 election victory, and their assumption of power triggered fears that Thaksin would make a political comeback on the strength of his continued popularity in Thailand's rural majority.

Thailand has had 17 constitutions since 1932 — a reflection of the political instability and military coups that followed the drafting of the first charter that created a constitutional monarchy. The last coup was in 2006, when Thaksin was ousted.

The prime minister spoke Friday after two meetings with the country's military chiefs to discuss the increasing unrest in Bangkok's streets caused by protesters seeking his resignation.

Supporter of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) wipes the face of a fellow supporter after riot police used tear gas during clashes outside the metropolitan police headquarters in Bangkok 8/29/08. Protesters trying to overthrow Thailand's government launched an attack on Bangkok's police headquarters on Friday as demonstrations against Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej spread from the capital (REUTERS/Stringer).

Samak says he had ordered police to withdraw from confronting demonstrators because he hoped to calm down the situation, in which both sides scuffled roughly in the street.

But he says that after he hosts a ceremony honoring Thailand's royal family Saturday, he will consider declaring a state of emergency if the situation deteriorates.

That would allow suspending some legal procedures to restore the peace.

Anti-government demonstrators push past police barricades Friday, Aug. 29, 2008, near the Royal Plaza in Bangkok, Thailand (AP Photo/David Longstreath).

Anti-government protesters gather at the Government House in Bangkok. Thai anti-government protesters besieging Government House expelled about 1,000 police from the compound early Friday, testing the prime minister's promise to end the rally peacefully (AFP).