The Digital Dispatch

From NOEBIE.net

Peace

Peace Can Be Louder Than War

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In May of 2024 I learned about this cool project from one of my favorite bands, Merry Hell. They crowdsourced a choir for the recording of this peace anthem, written by Virginia Kettle.

Each of us (representing five continents) sent in audio of ourselves singing along, and the band mixed them all together to form the “1000 Voice Choir.”

The recording debuted on New Year’s Day and rose to the Top Twenty of the Folk Alliance International Folk Chart shortly after its release.

The message is timely, and timeless. Here’s a wish that “some with their minds unconsciously blind” will be awakened by listening.

Peace.

The Lokah Peace Prayer

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After completing the recording of the Cowboy Mahamantra I asked my wife, Claudia, what we should record next. Without any hesitation, she chose this ancient Sanskrit invocation of compassion and peace.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

“May all beings everywhere be blessed. I devote myself to this goal.”

I set to work on the melody, and have been fiddling around with it for a few weeks now. This morning I did an impromptu Facebook livestream with what I have so far.

I’m still not very comfortable with the Spanish Guitar. 🙂

Look for a full recording of this one in the next couple of months.

In the meantime, here is my wish and blessing for you. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live in safety. May you be free.

We Shall See What Will Become Of His Dreams

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“There are people who have come to see the moral imperative of equality, but who cannot yet see the moral imperative of world brotherhood. I would like to see the fervor of the civil-rights movement imbued into the peace movement to instill it with greater strength. And I believe everyone has a duty to be in both the civil-rights and peace movements. But for those who presently choose but one, I would hope they will finally come to see the moral roots common to both.”

– The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

To The Unknown Deserter

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Bill Ayers considers the Bergdahl controversy.

A few years ago a group of German radicals and peace activists created a huge depiction of a soldier in profile, running hard as his helmet and rifle are flying away from him, and called it The Monument to the Unknown Deserter. They displayed their monument from town to town and city to city all over the country. We need that kind of sentiment—that monument—here, now more than ever.

 

Read More: Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl | Bill Ayers.

Why We’re Marching Against NATO

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Stay safe out there, people.

Why we’re marching against NATO. [SocialistWorker.org] – Thousands of people – workers, students, antiwar veterans and activists, Occupiers and community organizers – will take to the streets of Chicago when more than 50 heads of state gather on May 20-21 for a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

People of the world have come to understand through their own personal experience that war is not the answer, and veterans know that non-military solutions – non-NATO solutions – are essential in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere around the world where NATO imagines that force and violence will achieve its objectives.

– Ray Parrish, President of the Chicago Chapter of Veterans for Peace

War Is Over If YOU Want It

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This past week saw the formal end of a war that lasted more than eight years, resulted in more than 150,000 deaths and countless more injuries, and cost trillions of dollars. I find myself struggling with ambivalence in its wake.

I am thankful, of course, that the last of our troops have finally left Iraq and that they will now be able to come home to their loved ones. I am grateful to all who served. I am hopeful that we may not see another struggle like this in my lifetime.

I am, at the same time, mindful of the continuing war in Afghanistan, frightened by the sabre rattling over Iran, and frustrated at our seeming inability to find better ways to resolve conflicts in the game of nations.

Last year, the United States spent $687,105,000,000 (and change) on the military. That is, by far, that largest military budget of any nation on Earth. It is more than 40% of all military spending on the planet. It is more than was spent by all of the other nations ranking in the top 15 of military budgets combined. It is more than six times what China (number two in military expenditures) spent. It represents nearly 5% of our Gross Domestic Product, and constitutes well over half of our federal budget.

As staggering as those figures may seem, they do not include expenses that are not part of the formal Pentagon budget. When you include related spending that is not under the Department of Defense (such as foreign arms deals, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Homeland Security, defense-related costs at the Department of Energy, FBI Counterterrorism efforts, interest on debt incurred for wars, etc.) the total price tag balloons to more than $1 trillion dollars annually. By some estimates, the figure is close to $1.5 trillion.

China spends less than $75 per capita on the military each year. The United States spends more than $2100 per capita each year on the DoD budget alone. Add in the other defense-related expenses listed above, and we’re crowding five grand per year in military spending for every man, woman and child in the country.

By conservative estimates, the United States now has active duty military personnel on the ground in more than 100 countries around the globe, and maintains more than 650 bases on foreign soil.

Abraham Maslow said “If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” America seems cursed with the hammer of military might…

Though the current situation may seem overwhelmingly daunting to people who care about peace and justice, and we may be tempted to think of it as a remote and inaccessible problem, in truth it is not.

Today I pray for an end to the war in Afghanistan. I pray for an end to violence as an accepted solution to conflict on God’s good Earth. Especially in this Season of Christmas to come, I will pray that humankind will open our hearts to the Spirit of the Prince of Peace.

Prayers, however, will not be enough. We need to take away the hammer, or at least put some new tools in the box.

If the events of this past year have taught us anything, they have taught us that the power of ordinary people who come together, resolute in solidarity, seeking justice, is greater than any other power on Earth.

War is over, if you want it.

Do you?

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Visit:

Imagine Peace

The Carter Center

The Albert Einstein Institution

Pax Christi USA

The Peace Alliance

The United Nations Association of the United States

If you are involved in an organization that practices peace and advocates for it, or if you have other resources to recommend, please leave a comment or email me with a link and I’ll consider posting it here.

Peace.

Remembrance Day

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At 11 AM on 11 November 1918 the Allied Powers signed a ceasefire agreement with Germany at Rethondes, France, bringing to an end “The War To End All Wars.” There were prayers of thanksgiving and celebrations in the streets of major cities around the world.

One year later on 11 November 1919 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day observance with these words.

To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.

In 1938, the United States Congress made November 11th a legal holiday “to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’.”

Sadly, “The Great War” (as it was called before we had cause to number them) would not be the last. In 1954, the observance was officially renamed “Veterans Day” to honor those – both living and dead – who served in other conflicts as well.

My mother was born on May 25th of 1918, and she sometimes quipped that the nations of the world “saw that baby coming and figured they had better get things straightened out.” She also taught me from a very young age to observe a moment of silence with her at 11 AM on Veterans Day, and so it has been my lifelong habit to pray for peace at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the eleventh month.

Whenever I encounter a veteran (as evidenced by a ball cap or t-shirt or jacket noting their service) or a member of our current military, I take the opportunity to say “Thank you for your service.” Since many were not greeted warmly upon their return, if he or she is a Vietnam Veteran I’ll also say “Welcome home.” I am truly grateful for the sacrifices made by those who have served and by their families, regardless of the nature of the conflict during which they served.

I am also saddened by the fact that we live in a world in which violence is still accepted as a way to resolve things. I do not believe that it must be that way. I do not believe that it ought.

This year as we remember and honor those who have served, let us also pray for peace and justice on Earth. Let us work throughout the coming year with peace and justice as our goals. That seems to me an obligation we owe to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

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This post is dedicated to Wallace Malcolm Hirstein, who served his country with valor and distinction in General Patton’s Army during World War II. I miss you, pal.