Finny's News and Views.

My Story

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 00:44:35 GMT

Had a rather weird and interesting marriage (28 years) breakup three years ago and I wrote this during the last days. Tis different from my usual stuff! TRUE STORY....

We met under seemingly fateful and auspicious circumstances. It was love at first sight. Meeting in the early evening and living together by midnight. A mere five months later in Australia she became pregnant. The first of three. I delivered two of them. Over the next ten years we bought land and homesteaded, eventually I got sick of the isolation and wanted to join the mainstream. My partner reluctantly agreed to leave her piece of paradise. We eventually returned to the city (after a failed rural land based venture near the city and building a house at a beach resort) where I worked as a counsellor/therapist in A&D. After 21 years of the family thing (family: another story) and still with a deep abiding love for each other I left to go to the US for a working tour. I was on a road-show leading and co-leading Deep Ecology, Co gender, and emotional release workshops. I was feeling profoundly empowered and thought that I had finally found my calling. The lead up to feeling so empowered is a story on its own. Briefly: I had fallen in love and lust with a Californian woman. I had powerful desire to consummate this, and just incidentally my partner and I had expected this of me (acting out on sexual desire that is). By some means: I think it was through some sort of grace (or perhaps personal integrity, the grace came later) or something. In any event, I managed to navigate this whole territory with a great degree of authenticity and awareness. Honouring the feelings and doing a meaningful and profound ritual together that resulted in what I describe as an archetypal experience that left me loving all women. Somehow I had this sense that I was seeing the Goddess in them. This experience set me up to be able to do the co-gender work with a presence that I had never felt before. As well as placing me in a state of grace or so it seemed, with what I called spiritual monogamy as a feature. I was comfortable and at ease with my sexuality knowing that I had free choice and that I choose monogamy. The thought of acting out on carnal desires or notions of romantic love appeared to be a dishonouring of this newly found state. For the first time in my life I felt that I could trust myself.
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REBUILDING IRAQ by: Naomi Klein

Sun, 13 Apr 2003 21:48:32 GMT

Rebuilding Iraq? It's privatization in disguise by Naomi Klein; April 13, 2003

On April 6, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz spelled it out: There will be no role for the United Nations in setting up an interim government in Iraq. The US-run regime will last at least six months, "probably...longer than that."

And by the time the Iraqi people have a say in choosing a government, the key economic decisions about their country's future will have been made by their occupiers. "There has got to be an effective administration from day one," Wolfowitz said. "People need water and food and medicine, and the sewers have to work, the electricity has to work. And that's a coalition responsibility."

The process of getting all this infrastructure to work is usually called "reconstruction." But American plans for Iraq's future economy go well beyond that. Rather, the country is being treated as a blank slate on which the most ideological Washington neoliberals can design their dream economy: fully privatized, foreign-owned and open for business.
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My Oscar "Backlash"

Thu, 10 Apr 2003 19:35:12 GMT

April 7, 2003 Dear friends,

It appears that the Bush administration will have succeeded in colonizing Iraq sometime in the next few days. This is a blunder of such magnitude -- and we will pay for it for years to come. It was not worth the life of one single American kid in uniform, let alone the thousands of Iraqis who have died, and my condolences and prayers go out to all of them.

So, where are all those weapons of mass destruction that were the pretense for this war? Ha! There is so much to say about all this, but I will save it for later.

What I am most concerned about right now is that all of you -- the majority of Americans who did not support this war in the first place -- not go silent or be intimidated by what will be touted as some great military victory. Now, more than ever, the voices of peace and truth must be heard. I have received a lot of mail from people who are feeling a profound sense of despair and believe that their voices have been drowned out by the drums and bombs of false patriotism. Some are afraid of retaliation at work or at school or in their neighborhoods because they have been vocal proponents of peace. They have been told over and over that it is not "appropriate" to protest once the country is at war, and that your only duty now is to "support the troops."
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IRAQ IS A TRIAL RUN by Noam Chomsky

Wed, 9 Apr 2003 22:50:31 GMT

by Noam Chomsky and VK Ramachandran Frontline India April 02, 2003

Noam Chomsky , University Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founder of the modern science of linguistics and political activist, is a powerhouse of anti-imperialist activism in the United States today. On March 21, a crowded and typical - and uniquely Chomskyan - day of political protest and scientific academic research, he spoke from his office for half an hour to V. K. Ramachandran on the current attack on Iraq.

V. K. Ramachandran :Does the present aggression on Iraq represent a continuation of United States' international policy in recent years or a qualitatively new stage in that policy?

Noam Chomsky : It represents a significantly new phase. It is not without precedent, but significantly new nevertheless.

This should be seen as a trial run. Iraq is seen as an extremely easy and totally defenceless target. It is assumed, probably correctly, that the society will collapse, that the soldiers will go in and that the U.S. will be in control, and will establish the regime of its choice and military bases. They will then go on to the harder cases that will follow. The next case could be the Andean region, it could be Iran, it could be others.

The trial run is to try and establish what the U.S. calls a "new norm" in international relations. The new norm is "preventive war" (notice that new norms are established only by the United States). So, for example, when India invaded East Pakistan to terminate horrendous massacres, it did not establish a new norm of humanitarian intervention, because India is the wrong country, and besides, the U.S. was strenuously opposed to that action.
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Mike Moore "You Are Either With Us, Or You Are Fired"

Tue, 1 Oct 2002 14:44:53 GMT

October 1, 2002 "YOU ARE EITHER WITH US, OR YOU ARE FIRED!"

Dear Friends,

I was going to write you a letter about what a pathetic liar George W, Bush is -- but then I figured, hey, why waste your time telling you something you already know!

You already know that his planned invasion of Iraq is a ruse meant to distract the public from the real issues, those issues being the following:

1. The number of people unemployed since he "took" office has risen by 35%.

2. We had a federal SURPLUS of $281 billion when he was inaugurated; today we have a DEFICIT of $157 billion.

3. TWO MILLION jobs have been eliminated since Bush began his occupation of the Oval Office.

4. The stock market is down 34% since January of 2001.

5. Another 1.4 million people now have NO health insurance, making it a total of over 41 million Americans who can't afford to get sick.

6. Only 13 corporate crooks out of HUNDREDS have been indicted, and none of them have been the close personal friends of Mr. Bush.
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Now, Some Sanity From The Ivory Tower

Thu, 26 Sep 2002 01:28:08 GMT

Not sure how widely circulated this is. It surely is good news from the halls of power, somebody is standing up in order to be counted. A letter from former Secretary of State; Ramsey Clark to Kofi Annan. Has this been big news in the USA?

September 20, 2002

Secretary General Kofi Annan United Nations New York, NY

Dear Secretary General Annan,

George Bush will invade Iraq unless restrained by the United Nations. Other international organizations-- including the European Union, the African Union, the OAS, the Arab League, stalwart nations courageous enough to speak out against superpower aggression, international peace movements, political leadership, and public opinion within the United States--must do their part for peace. If the United Nations, above all, fails to oppose a U.S. invasion of Iraq, it will forfeit its honor, integrity and raison d'etre.

A military attack on Iraq is obviously criminal; completely inconsistent with urgent needs of the Peoples of the United Nations; unjustifiable on any legal or moral ground; irrational in light of the known facts; out of proportion to other existing threats of war and violence; and a dangerous adventure risking continuing conflict throughout the region and far beyond for years to come. The most careful analysis must be made as to why the world is subjected to such threats of violence by its only superpower, which could so safely and importantly lead us on the road to peace, and how the UN can avoid the human tragedy of yet another major assault on Iraq and the powerful stimulus for retaliatory terrorism it would create.
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DEATH AND DISHONOUR

Tue, 24 Sep 2002 18:10:08 GMT

Other NCNers may wonder why I'm seemingly single focused on the more overtly political. Well, several reasons, with the so-called "War on Terrorism" most peoples focus is on secruity not enviornmental/social or spiritual issues. Unless Bush and his croonies are stopped, there is slim hope for a meaningful survival of humanity and ecosystems. Bush's adminstration is the most blantantly anti-environment, anti-democratic and anti-alternative energy regime the mordern world has seen. Here at NCN I'm probably preaching to the converted mostly, but I think that lots of news is just not reported, and the below article comes from a NZ publication, namely "The Listener". It simply and logically states the blatant disregard for peace the US administration has. Perhaps some here will pass it on.

Tony Blair today officially released the "evidence" that Iraq has biological weapons on mass destruction and the delievery systems needed. If this really is the case, then when would they be most likely to use them. When they are under attack and have nothing to lose seems logical.

A factor that is completly ignored in this whole issue is that Iraq has four, yes FOUR times the oil reserves of the USA.

It took me two hours to copy this.

DEATH AND DISHOHOUR by Gordon Campbell

Ten Reasons Not To Support A War On Iraq.

As the war drums on Iraq beat louder, it's worth recalling why this war is so foolhardy and immoral. It will kill many innocent people, and make the world a far more dangerous place. more >

The New Ugly Americans by: George Ochenski

Mon, 23 Sep 2002 19:23:33 GMT

The new ugly Americans by George Ochenski ; 9/19/2002

It'll only get harder to quell our rising discontent

Secretary of State Colin Powell was jeered, booed, and heckled when, as Americas top official at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development, he attempted to defend the unconscionable Bush energy development and consumption agenda and explain away the environmental consequences. Hate to say it, but he got what he deserved. Global protests are increasing over the perceived use of Americas superpower military to bully other nations on trade, politics, and the environment. Both at home and abroad, a tide of resentment against the new ugly Americans is rising and this tide shows no signs of ebbing any time soon.

Deafened by war drums and isolated by handlers, President Bush seems unaware of the broad opposition to his current policies.
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What!

Thu, 19 Sep 2002 16:18:01 GMT

What!! he shouted from the back seats. A lone onlooker commented; "only one watt, he must be pretty dim!"

Surveying the scene and deciding that there was nothing he could do, except what he had become accustomed to, and that was retreat, the dim man retreated. Taking his somewhat dissapointed 'shadow' with him. The 'shadow' wanted to stay and play, no matter the consequences. No matter, that there were weightier issues that needed attention. Neroishly fiddling whilst fires raged all round. Shadow was interested in fires, they were afterall purifying. So what that other's get burnt; play with fire that's what happens.... more >

Afghanistan Is On The Brink Of Another Diaster: by Robert Fisk

Sun, 15 Sep 2002 18:29:30 GMT

ZNet Commentary Afghanistan Is On The Brink Of Another Disaster September 12, 2002 By Robert Fisk

The garden was overgrown, the roses scrawny after a day of Kandahar heat, the dust in our eyes, noses, mouth, fingernails. But the message was straightforward. "This is a secret war," the Special Forces man told me. "And this is a dirty war. You don't know what is happening." And of course, we are not supposed to know. In a "war against terror", journalists are supposed to keep silent and rely on the good guys to sort out the bad guys without worrying too much about human rights.

How many human rights did the mass killers of 11 September allow their victims? You are either with us or against us. Whose side are you on? But the man in the garden was worried. He was not an American. He was one of the "coalition allies", as the Americans like to call the patsies who have trotted after them into the Afghan midden. "The Americans don't know what to do here now," he went on. "Their morale in Afghanistan is going downhill -- though there's no problem with the generals running things in Tampa. They're still gung-ho. But here the soldiers know things haven't gone right, that things aren't working. Even their interrogations went wrong". Brutally so, it seems.
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