Veterans For Peace Chained to White House Fence

Veterans For Peace has done what Americans everywhere should do...

Take it to the White House - Take it to the streets!




Obama has escalated these wars and began new ones in Pakistan and Yeman. He is NOT what he passed himself off to be during the campaign. He is every bit as much a war waging profiteer as members of the Bush Clan. Obama believes in Empire - his actions have exposed his true values. He has turned his face toward the conservative corporate power structure while showing his back to the majority of the people in this country. FACE US OBAMA!

Americans need to wake up and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for the destruction that the armies of the corporate "We the People" have visited upon innocent, defenseless people all over the world.

The American economy is in the toilet because of the money wasted on the war machine. These wars are the Elephant in the room.

Want to save money? Want to bring down the deficit? Then...

No money for war! No tax cuts for billionaires! No money for Israel!

Take Heed - Veterans For Peace has a powerful message.
Take Action - Stop the War Machine!

Thank You to all of my Veterans For Peace sisters and brothers who took part in this action. You have done your country proud.

.......Wage Peace........
Kitchen Window Woman

Inspired by Bertolt Brecht

Recently, I wrote about a favorite old book of mine - "The Heart of Europe" - (see my previous post, "Expecting the Islamofascists" here). Every time I open its covers I go on a journey. Several years ago, I read a powerful poem that I discovered on page 719. "Yes, I Live in a Dark Age" by German poet and playwright, Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), sent me on a search for more of his poetry.

I was successful. I found more poetry by Brecht and a book of short stories. The following piece by Bertolt Brecht is my favorite of his poems. His use of clear, simple language to describe the origin and effect of war is the source of the stark but powerful impact delivered by "From a German War Primer". That war is conceived by the upper classes and feasts on those beneath is the theme throughout. I sincerely find it to be among the most heartfelt and truthful anti-war poems ever written.

You may already be familiar with Bertolt Brecht"s work. He was the wordsmith of "Three Penny Opera" who fleshed out Kurt Weill's musical score. Brecht wrote the lyrics for the most famous song to come out of "Three Penny Opera" - Mac the Knife.

Please give this incredible piece of work a read. Its message rings true for today and should be taken seriously.

________________________________________________________

From a German War Primer

AMONGST THE HIGHLY PLACED
It is considered low to talk about food.
The fact is : they have
Already eaten.

The lowly must leave this earth
Without having tasted
Any good meat.

For wondering where they come from ans
Where they are going
The fine evenings find them
Too exhausted.

They have not yet seen
The mountains and the great sea
When their time is already up.

If the lowly do not
Think about what's low
They will never rise.

THE BREAD OF THE HUNGRY HAS
ALL BEEN EATEN
Meat has become unknown. Useless
The pouring out of the people's sweat.
The laurel groves have been
lopped down.
From the chimneys of the arms factories
Rises smoke.

THE HOUSE-PAINTER SPEAKS OF
GREAT TIMES TO COME.
The forests still grow
The fields still bear
The cities still stand
The people still breathe.

ON THE CALENDAR THE DAY IS NOT
YET SHOWN
Every month, every day
Lies open. One of those days
Is going to be marked with a cross.

THE WORKERS CRY OUT FOR BREAD
The merchants cry out for markets.
The unemployed were hungry. The employed
Are hungry now.
The hands that lay folded are busy again.
The are making shells.

THOSE WHO TAKE THE MEAT FROM THE TABLE
Teach contentment.
Those for whom the contribution is destined
Demand sacrifice.
Those who eat their fill speak to the hungry
Of wonderful times to come.
Those who lead the country into the abyss
Call ruling too difficult
For ordinary men.

WHEN LEADERS SPEAK OF PEACE
The common folk know
That war is coming.
When leaders curse war
The mobilization order is already written out.

THOSE AT THE TOP SAY: PEACE
AND WAR
Are of different substance.
But their peace and their war
Are like wind and storm.

War grows from their peace
Like son from his mother
He bears
Her frightful features.

ON THE WALL WAS CHALKED:
They want war.
The man who wrote it
Has already fallen.

THOSE AT THE TOP SAY:
This way to glory.
Those down below say:
This way to the grave.

THE WAR WHICH IS COMING
Is not the first one. There were
Other wars before it.
When the last one came to an end
There were conquerors and conquered.
Among the conquered the common people
Starved. Among the conquerors
The common people starved too.

THOSE AT THE TOP SAY COMRADESHIP
Reigns in the army.
The truth of this is seen
In the cookhouse.
In their hearts should be
The selfsame courage. But
On their plates
Are two kinds of rations.

WHEN IT COMES TO MARCHING MANY DO NOT
KNOW
That their enemy is marching at their head.
The voice which gives them their orders
Is their enemy's voice and
The man who speaks of the enemy
Is the enemy himself.

IT IS NIGHT
The married couples
Lie in their beds. The young women
Will bear orphans.

GENERAL, YOUR TANK IS A POWERFUL VEHICLE
It smashes down forests and crushes a hundred men.
But it has one defect:
It needs a driver.

General, your bomber is powerful
It flies faster than a storm and carries more than an elephant.
But it has one defect:
It needs a mechanic.

General, man is very useful.
He can fly and he can kill.
But he has one defect:
He can think.
_________________________________________________________

Each time I read "War Primer" either silently or out loud, I find something else to think about. I've read it many times during the seven-year reign of Bush that we have been forced to endure. It continues to inspire me to work towards peace and against a global American Empire.

What if they gave a war and nobody came?

............Kitchen Window Woman..................

A Belated Valentine's Day Message

I wish you all a belated Happy Valentine's Day! I hope that your February 14th was as full of love and as sweet as ours was. We had flowers, music, a special dinner, chocolates, and spent an enjoyable evening here, at home, in our wee canyon cottage.

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The photo above is of my 40-year-old solid brass peace sign. I posted an almost identical photo last year on Valentine's Day. I used these two symbols together because the heart and the peace sign are natural allies. This peace sign and I have been working for years to end America's culture of war. My peace necklace has always inspired me and I have been able to keep on keeping on because my heart is in what I do. Yep, I got "heart".

Its like the song says, "You gotta have heart!" America lost "heart" a long time ago. A century of ever rising militarism and seven years of Bush extremism plus an unnecessary war have drained the economy. Americans have been left without jobs, homes, medical care, and many of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Yesterday there was another mass shooting. Shootings at schools, shootings at colleges, shootings in homes, shootings in malls - shootings have become common, weekly events. Think of the ever spreading epidemic of mass shootings in America as symptomatic of a society addicted to violence and war. A nation that has "heart" does not seek solutions that depend solely on guns and bombs.

A nation that has "heart" does not neglect its elderly, its mentally ill, its homeless, its hungry, its children, or its wounded soldiers. Nor does it betray its working citizens by outsourcing their jobs overseas. A nation that has "heart" does not waste the money provided by taxing its citizens to support endless wars that destroy other nations. A nation that has heart, like a family that has heart, like a person who has heart, takes care of people and extends a weaponless hand to its neighbors. A nation that has "heart" engenders mutual trust and friendship with other nations.

"You gotta have heart". Tune out the heartless drummers pounding their drums of war and listen instead to the rhythm of life that beats within your heart. Yep, "You gotta have heart...All you really need is heart!"

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Years ago when I met my husband he asked me to sing harmony with him. Later on that evening, I found myself on the stage at the La Paloma Theater in Encinitas, CA singing harmony on "Dark as a Dungeon". We were married soon after.

One of my favorite albums of all time is Spirit, the 1968 debut album by Spirit. It is timeless and a joy every time I listen to it (I have it on CD now). Anybody else out there into Spirit?


Several days before Valentine's Day, I was looking up Spirit for my daughter when I stumbled across a website page with their available albums. That's where I found the perfect album for a Valentine's gift for my ukulele playing, guitar playing, singing spouse. So I clicked on the pictured "Spirit Live at The La Paloma" and ordered it from CD Baby. If we had known that Spirit was playing a gig at the La Paloma back in 1993 we would have been there!


Anyway, it was kind of a past revisited full circle connection kind of a gift - he liked it! And I love the garden gnome couple on the bench and the garden gnome giving a heart to his love that he got for me. We will find special places for them in our yard and garden.

We have quite a few garden gnomes - they have "heart".
...................Kitchen Window Woman................................