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JAMES' PERSONAL WRITINGS: SLOVING
JAMES' MOST STRATEGIC POSTS: *****
MUCH OF MY POSTING WAS ON FACEBOOK: STARTLOVING1

1.07.2009

How many more will progressives kill to avoid making a stand?

What do you mean "how many more will progressives kill to avoid making a stand?!" Two examples: Progressives, peace activists, Catholic Workers... "know," that -
  • "Knowledge is power." Sir Francis Bacon
  • "With power comes great responsibilities." Common
  • 600 million people are soon to be drowned off their land because we do not make a stand for an immediate and escalating carbon tax.
  • 500 people more are now dead in Palestine because we will not make a stand against the $1 trillion U.S. defense budget.
"False" you say! Progressives, etc. DO make a stand. Hmmm. Not by any historical measure:
  • Making a stand were elementary students in Soweto.
  • Making a stand were activists in Seattle to stop the WTO.
  • Making a stand were Americans walking to work for a year in Montgomery during the bus boycott.
  • Making a stand, as mistaken as it is, are young Americans in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"…the great stumbling block …[is the] moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to the positive peace which is the presence of justice." Martin Luther King, Jr.

There are three ways to respond to the need to "make a stand," to participate in life and death struggle, such as the two mentioned above:
  1. Cowardice - By-standing, on-looking including talking, blogging, writing, criticizing, tepid, low risk, "symbolic," "sacramental," activism (banner drops, 1 day arrests, etc., 2 hour marches, candle light vigils....)
  2. Violence - Putting the other guy's life on the line - terrorism as practiced by the U.S., Israel and Hamas.
  3. Nonviolence - Putting your OWN life on the line (see examples above, Soweto, etc.).
  4. There is no 4th way. We've all read Zinn's People's History, etc. All significant change comes when, and only when people make a stand - putting their very lives on the line.
Why are these the only options? Because the forces of destruction DO put their lives on the line. They are NOT fighting "symbolic," or "sacramental" fights. The Military - Corporate - Industrial complex fights smart, to win. They DO put your life AND thier lives on the line. Cowards always lose. Cowards always lose.

"
More and more I feel that people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will." Martin Luther King, Jr.


"The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate of for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?" Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is past time, and in 4 more weeks it will be too late for Progressives, peace activists, Catholic Workers... to make a stand.

And there is one and only one strategic place to focus for any all of your goals to be won (Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Environment..). The place of strategic focus is the defense budget. This is the root cause for which Palestine, Iraq, Iran... are the symptoms. Lester Brown says so. Howard Zinn says so. Barney Frank said so. Medea Benjamin said so.

Sanity, humanity, common knowledge says so. Now, January 2o09 is the time to make a stand:
  1. Headlines today - U.S. faces trillion dollar deficits for years to come.
  2. Headlines today - U.S. needs a trillion dollar stimulus.
  3. Russia spends $45 billion on Defense.
  4. China spends $60 billion on Defense.
  5. "A nation that year after year spends more money on the military than it does on social uplift, is facing spiritual death." Martin Luther King, Jr., April 4, 1967, the Truth of which Dr. King was shot for exactly one year later to the day.
  6. The U.S. is bleeding to death from $1 trillion in defense spending.
  7. If we immediately shift $200 billion from Defense (death and destruction) to PeaceBuilding (Life and construction) we WILL head off the drowning of 600 million by global warming and head off the #1 threat to U.S. security - failing states - Lester Brown, Plan B 3.o. And we can achieve all of the other Progressive agenda items.
Today I spoke to 40 or so congress folks about the need to cut Defense, as they streamed out of the Capitol.
  • 1/3 said "I agree."
  • 1/3 made no response, but clearly they "heard" the truth of this.
  • 1/3 tried hard not to hear, but obviously could not avoid hearing it. "The truth crushed to earth will rise again!" Marin Luther King, Jr.
  • Although they could avoid eye contact with me, not one was able to avoid the issue hitting their conscience !
The Defense Budget is the elephant in the room that no one is talking about. The Defense Budget is totally indefensible today if we will only make heroic, life on the line stand against it!

Progressives, now is the time to make a stand, in D.C., with your lives, demanding the shifting of $2oo billion from Defense to PeaceBuilding as called for by "Plan B 3.o," Lester Brown.

Progressives, take a leave of absence from work, risk your personal connections and relations, lay down your lives for your children and grand-children, nieces and nephews. A few of you should join me on Hunger Strike / 24 hr per day Occupation of the Hill. But most of you should mount the most sheroic, unflinching lobbying / sitting in of strategic, "good guy" Hill offices ever seen in DC - Barney Frank, Dennis Kucinich, Bernie Sanders, Eleanor Holmes Norton (Prop 1 Economic Conversion Act sponsor every year since 1993) until they join us and help guide us to victory. Ellen Thomas, http://prop1.org can give you good guidance here. AND, also lobby everyone and every group you know to join you.

Progressives, if forces overt, covert, conscious and unconscious can keep you sidelined, distracted, diverted (what Obama does, the Inauguration, etc.), cowardly by-standing for just 4 more weeks, until after the stimulus package is set, you will have been defeated in all of your causes, forever. Why? The tipping points - political and environmental to do with global life support collapse and failed state proliferation will be beyond reversal! Scientific fact. Your enemies, the corporate - military - industrial complex will have won for time immemorial. Is that OK with you?

It is time to put up, or it is time for us to shut up. Let's put up.

Start Loving,
Day #22 Hunger Strike 24 hour per day Occupation, Capitol Hill, outside Cannon House Office building, Making a Stand for $200 Billion shift from WarMaking to PeaceBuilding - Plan B 3.o.

http://www.YouTube.com/StartLoving1
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB3/pb3book.pdf

If anything happens to me

The laptop I use belongs to Dave and Mary Rachel along with the Tosheba drive in my backpack and the LaCie drive on the desk in the room I use; and the DVD drives both under the desk and one in the drawer in a case that goes into the Laptop itself.

The solar panel Prop1/Ellen got me - Ellen the packaging is carefully in the room I use - check to see if it is within 30 days of delivery (Jan 7). If so return it to them for 100% refund minus shipping. Otherwise please sell it.

Duracell 600 watt battery - please give it to Liz Hourican with Code Pink.

Warm clothing, other clothing - please give it to whomever needs it.

My books - please give to Dave and Mary Rachel.

"SAVED..." FROM A MEANINGLESS LIFE. THIS IS THE ENTIERETY OF THE MEANING; THE ENTIRETY OF WHAT JESUS DIED FOR.

Is There Anything the Individual Can Still Do? Franz Jagerstatter

Note: Hunger Strike / Hill Occupation Day #21. Washed off the Hill for some of the next 2 days. Resting and writing. Hunger Strike continues although some liquid nourishment will be consumed to counteract the all day marching, exposure to the elements and lack of reclined sleep. My goal in this is NOT to delay the ultimate climax by even an hour, but to remain functional longer than otherwise.


{{NOTE: A NON "DEISTIC" JESUS, JESUS THE NON-VIOLENT WARRIOR WAS GANDHI'S #1 HERO, HIS #1 MODEL, ICON, IDOL. ARE YOU WISER, BETTER THAN GANDHI? I AM NOT.

"I like your Christ.
I do NOT like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
Gandhi}}


Bio: An Austrian peasant, Franz Jägerstätter refused to serve in the Nazi army following Germany’s invasion of Austria. His courageous and singular refusal was based in a deeply pietistic Catholicism. His story, and his reflections, are a moving testimony to the moral responsibility of the individual as opposed to the obligations of the state. The excerpt that follows is from a letter written during his imprisonment.

Quotations from this essay:

"One really has no cause to be astonished that there are those who can no longer find their way in the great confusion of our day. People we think we can trust, who ought to be leading the way and setting a good example, are running along with the crowd. No one gives enlightenment, whether in word or in writing. Or, to be more exact, it may not be given. And the thoughtless race goes on, always closer to eternity. As long as conditions are still half-good, we don’t see things quite right, or that we could or should do otherwise."

"I realize, too, that today many words would accomplish little more than make one highly eligible for prison. Yet, in spite of this, it is not good if ... leaders remain silent year after year. By “words” I mean, of course, instruction; but example gives direction. Do we no longer want to see [activists] who are able to take a stand in the darkness around us in deliberate clarity, calmness, and confidence—who, in the midst of tension, gloom, selfishness, and hate, stand fast in perfect peace and cheerfulness— who are not like the floating reed which is driven here and there by every breeze—who do not merely watch to see what their friends will do but, instead, ask themselves, “What does our faith teach us about this?” or “Can my conscience bear this so easily that I will never have to repent?”

If road signs were ever stuck so loosely in the earth that every wind could break them off or blow them about, would anyone who did not know the road be able to find his way? And how much worse it is if those to whom one turns for information refuse to give him an answer or, at most, give him the wrong direction just to be rid of him as quickly as possible!"

More like this at the single greatest repository of nonviolent essays: http://peaceandnonviolence.blogspot.com

1.05.2009

Hunger Stike / Hill Occupation Terminated Day #18

...almost. I am so sorry.

Several times yesterday I came within seconds of terminating the Hunger Strike. I am so exhausted, depleted, hungry, isolated, in pain, cold....

But I can't. I can't face your child if I do. I can't face you, when you come to your senses if I do. I can't face your niece over the destruction of her planet, and her civilization; I can't face the 600 million we are about to drown with our murderous, totally unnecessary addiction to fossil fuel; I can't face the Palestinians being murdered and imprisoned by your addiction to Imperial Power ($1 trillion per year on military; China spends $60 billion.) I can't face the 40 million aids victims and their millions of orphans in Sub-Sahara Africa that our military addiction precludes us from helping; I can't face your grandchildren who scream at me, "Why didn't you put it all on the line to change the Spirit, the Nature, the very Core Values of America in January 2009 that you KNEW to be our last chance to do so; our only chance...."

I pray, I PRAY I find the strength to leave here the only way a Human Being, someone of Conscience, Courage and Humanity CAN leave this issue at this time - in victory ($200B shift from Death and Destruction to Life and Construction achieved), in an Ambulance or in a hearse.

I don't know if I have the Strength, Courage, Humanity, Sanity, Compassion or Wisdom. Sorry if I do not. I pray that I do.

1.03.2009

PRESS RELEASE

IF YOU KNOW OF A PUBLICATION THAT SHOULD CARY THIS - DO IT.

Hunger Strike Continues 7/24 on Capitol Hill Day #16 Demanding $200B Budget Shift from Pentagon to Plan B 3.0 Awaits Notification from Dennis Kucinich

NW corner of Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC, January 1, 2009. In order to understand this action, "Imagine that you've seen a meteor just days from striking earth and congress is doing nothing but talk. What do you do," asks Start Loving, when asked to explain this campaign.

"Plan B 3.0, by Earth Policy Institute's Lester Brown, authoritatively, unmistakably shows us the national and global security 'meteor.' -- the soon to be irreversible destruction of life support on planet earth -- 'civilization collapse,' as manifest in the sharp rise in failing states around the world," Loving continues. "Driven by global warming, population explosion, and millions moving toward western style consumption, and with tipping point just months away, the Marshall Plan funding Brown calls for occurs now, January 2009, or it is too late for U.S. National security."

Loving adds, "Despite this impending catastrophe, Barney Frank (Democrat MA) is the lone voice in Congress calling for action, in October demanding a 25% shift in budget from the Pentagon. I will not remain silent in the face of this obvious threat. I expect to remain on Capitol Hill, NW corner of the Cannon House Office building 24/7 consuming only water, vitamins, and electrolytes until Dennis Kucinich, the congressman I most trust, comes out to tell me that the funding shift is a certainty."

Most of his adult life a turn-around expert in the computer industry, Loving came to DC over 3 years ago to fight the genocide in Darfur (Wash. Post, A Hunger For Justice - washingtonpost.com), conducting a 46 day hunger strike, 7/24 occupation outside the Sudan Embassy. He moved to direct confrontation of U.S. self destructive acts of Empire last October with a 7/24 occupation on Capitol Hill against the bombing of Iran (<http://startlovingusforcesiraniraq.blogspot.com/>http://StartLovingUSForcesIranIraq.blogspot.com) .

Most recently Loving has been supporting the 27+ year Peace Vigil in Lafayette Park (<http://prop1.org/>http://prop1.org) in for the furtherance of Proposition One (HRxxxx) as proposed by Eleanor Holmes Norton each year since 1993. First passed in DC in DC election 1991 (prop1.org for details).

------------------------------

Note: Plan B 3.0, Lester Brown is online, free at http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB3/index.htm

Additional Detail at Mr. Loving's YouTube site: <http://youtube.com/StartLoving1>http://youtube.com/StartLoving1 and <http://jesusgodgoodetcnjay.blogspot.com/>http://jesusgodgoodetcnjay.blogspot.com .

Addional press contact: Ellen Thomas, 202-682-4282 Proposition One <http://prop1.org/>http://prop1.org

Start Loving email: Start_Loving@yahoo.com

Day 17: Ellen, the lone partner in this campaign to save humanity

Ellen,

Some thoughts are in my mind regarding your behavior and I think I should share them.

Many, many people know of the campaign I am surrendered to. Millions know of, and talk enlessly about the threat (Plan B 3.0, Prop1) know of the global threat I am committed to fight with all of my being.

I know of one person besides myself that will actively even approach committing to fight this threat - you. I am awed at your courage, and your humanity. You make me think of the parable of the two sons - one of whom says "no" dad, I will not do what you ask, but does; and the other son that says "SURE" dad, and does not. You being the former, not necessarily enthusiastic or pleased, but... then, you just do what our Father would want - bringing water, sending out a press release, physically dragging the vigiler to safety out of 60 mph winds, wifi, replenishment of electrical power.......

You also make me think of Jesus Mother, Mary. I never got the idea that Mary was very pleased with what Jesus was doing, she didn't understand fully, she didn't agree... But I DO have the sense that still, if not happily, she kept supporting Jesus work. She was always "there" for it.
With tears of amazement, Your brother,

1.02.2009

Day 16 Occupation / Hunger Strike continues

ZERO support from anyone, in any way EXCEPT Ellen, Steve and Troy. :-)

Jesus didn't have any support either while he was alive.

I do NOT take the lack of support / participation personally. Why? No one is acting with the heroism called for by these times in ANY campaign.

If he or she is moving you are observing a blood sucking zombie, in all likelihood. This is a graveyard.

Why do I continue?
  1. God knows what will happen. I am not God.
  2. Doing what needs to be done feels superior to any alternative - awesome! Life itself.
  3. Future survivors need examples.
  4. Current survivors need examples.
There is never a second when I'd prefer being any place else, doing anything else.

CREATIVE TENSION = GOD = LIFE = LOVE = TRUTH

Dr. King's concept of creative tension - the source of all motive power for significant change - honest embrace of the Reality of how things are AND how they could / should be.

This is God - conscience - Life - Love - Truth. THIS is what characterizes Jesus, King, Gandhi...

This, creative tension is what animates my life.

Creative Tension BEGETS Creative Tension IF ANYTHING will. Without it only evil is possible.

1.01.2009

Retaking the Hill. Hunger Strike Day #14

Bye. I'm off to the Hill.

ps: Have you gotten word to Kucinich yet that I'm out there in support of his PeaceForce efforts - and will remain on Hunger Strike, 7/24 Occupation of the Hill until he comes out to tell me the $200B shift from War-making to Peace-building is "in the bag?"