Trees for Life

The Palestinian farmers lost many olive orchards to Israeli-occupied land for settlements and a wall for protection and separation. Why do people fail to see the humanity in others? If one person’s olive trees can be bulldozed, what is the difference between their trees and ours? Do the bulldozer operators not use olives and olive products? The greedy, nihilistic military justifies aggressive actions out of its own fear and ignorance.

What can one person do?

Trees for Life provides three-year old saplings to farmers in Palestine to replace the trees lost to Israeli settlements and the wall that now separates many Palestinian farmers from their olive orchards. By purchasing Fair Trade products (olive oil and soap) we contribute to the distribution of these saplings. We can also make a donation to purchase trees for the Palestinians. When people have a livelihood, they have hope. You can find their website and local distributors of the olive products at http://www.zatoun.com/treesforlife.htm.

Join the ONE Campaign

Join the ONE Campaign at www.one.org. This campaign works to eradicate hunger, poverty, AIDS, and other diseases worldwide by making our leaders more accountable.

Those Americans who believe that eradicating poverty and elevating all of humanity’s life condition will contribute to a better, safer, happier world for everyone are joining the One Campaign to make these results a reality. The One Campaign depends on every American to fight against the evil that causes poverty and win education, food, clean water, and health for everyone. Join the ONE Campaign at www.one.org.

Internship opportunity

Here’s something that came through my email that looks like a great opportunity for students proficient in web design, marketing, Internet research, legal research, editing, writing, grant writing, paralegal, communications and public relations, fundraising, and coalition building.

The Natah Education and Legal Defense Fund is currently seeking interns for the Spring 2008 semester. The fund represents Iraq war victims in various lawsuits. Natah v. Bush, our key case, is the only case to ever ask the President to pay damages to victims of war crimes. Other cases deal with civil rights abuses by U.S. contractors working in Iraq.

Legal action is currently one of the best hopes for remedying U.S. policy regarding Iraq and Iran. Senate filibuster delays legislative changes, and President Bush is likely to veto any limits on the Iraq war. Middle East peace is too important to wait for a new President, and legal action is currently the fastest route to get policy changes and prevent a war with Iran.

More information can be found at . We offer very substantive meaningful assignments tailored to each student's educational and vocational goals.

Call 703-698-0623 or e-mail antiwarattorney@yahoo.com, Michael Beattie, Attorney

I can dance!

I had a great time last night at the Fair Trade Festival benefit. The music, friends, acquaintances and others made it special. Even Travis, our server, did an excellent job of keeping us well supplied with food and drink.

For the past 20 years, I have suffered from a malady the doctor’s call irritable bowel syndrome. Even though they have performed two colonoscopies and a barium enema with air contrast, they don’t know how to help me. So I have been helping myself through keeping a food journal, fasting whenever I have diarrhea, and trusting doctors to help. But the best help came from a book written by James F. and Phyllis A. Balch – Prescription for Nutritional Healing.

Through their guidance and my charts and records, I have discovered that taking one acidophilus tablet every time I eat prevents the diarrhea. My suspicion is that the antibiotics I took as a child suffering from chronic ear infections cleaned out my digestive system of all the good bacteria, and that my best choice is to replace these bacteria every time I eat with the acidophilus.

Last night at the benefit, when Milo MacTavish got up to dance the jig in his kilt, I joined him and danced with no hazardous-waste spillage. What a liberating feeling. I can dance!

We have all the technology. Now learn to communicate.

We can text message, call from anywhere, anytime, email, blog, post messages; but can we communicate?

“I can’t hear you. I’m going through the tunnel. I’ll call you back in a few minutes. Send me a text message. No, never mind. It still won’t go through until I get out of the tunnel.”

“Okay. I’m back. What were you going to tell me?”

“Oh, never mind. It wasn’t important.

“Come on. I want to know. Tell me. If it wasn’t important, you wouldn’t have called. Well maybe, you would. You call me all the time and it’s not important. You just want to talk. Is that what you wanted? To talk?”

“I said, ‘Never mind.’ I don’t want to just talk. I did have something important, but the moment is gone. Forever lost. I was going to tell you about how I’m sitting on the beach watching the sun rise and wished you were here with me. That’s all.”

Oh. Sorry. I wish I was with you too. But I have to go to work. That’s life, I guess. Never the right time or place. Even with all our technology, a stupid tunnel cut us off and then I thought it wasn’t important. Will we ever learn to communicate?”

In memory of Virginia Tech fallen comrades

What is going on here? Why would a person kill others? What is preventing us from expressing our anger respectfully? What gives anyone the right to take another's life? What makes us think that we are better, more powerful, more righteous than others? What gives us the right to destroy hundreds of other lives, including the bereaved, just because we want to? What are we raising our children to believe? That they can throw a major temper tantrum because they don't get their way? When will we learn respect for life? When will we learn how to have dialogue with others when we're upset instead of shooting them in the face? When will we learn to graciously step aside when someone one else gets in the way? When will we learn that we are all connected and that what we do to one person, we also do to ourselves?

I don't have any answers, but I'm looking in certain directions:

1. Respect for life begins with our leaders. They set the example for us.
2. War, killing, profiteering, road rage, violence all lead to more violence.
3. Killing is easy; dialogue is only for those who want to make a better world for our children.

Nothing will replace the lives of those who died today. Only our efforts toward peace and nonviolent dialogue will help to steer our society in a new direction.

Taking the road less travelled

When do we get insight to move forward? To take action? To do a kind deed? When we are engaged in some other activity. Suddenly, an idea pops into our heads to deviate from the planned course and do something else. Most often, we dismiss this idea. We're too tired, too stressed, or our favorite show is about to begin. So we fail to take action.

We never know the joy we missed by not taking that sidetrack. We just go on, mechanically doing the same things we have always done.

The other day, after working all day, I went to a study meeting to learn more about my faith. In one way, I had to be there, as I was leading the discussion. In another way, I wanted to be there because I wanted to be part of the activity. When it was over, my plan was to take my friend home and go home myself.

But then a thought popped into my mind. This would be a good time to visit another friend who had called me earlier that day from the emergency room asking me to notify some relatives that he had been injured on the job. I wasn't even sure if he had been admitted, but I made a U-turn and headed toward the hospital.

I saw that visiting hours ended at 8:30 and it was now 9 pm. But the automatic outside door opened, and someone inside triggered the switch to open the inside door. No one was at the desk to tell me if my friend had been admitted, so I proceeded to the emergency room to find out.

I walked in and a security guard asked me if he could help. I told him about my quest and he directed me to a clerk who told me my friend's room number. The security guard escorted me to the right room and showed me how to find my way out when I was ready to leave.

It was the right thing to do. My friend looked tired and gray because of two broken ribs and a collapsed lung, but he was happy to see me. We visited for about a half hour, and then I suggested that we chant for a few minutes. He agreed and as we chanted together, although he was in pain, his color improved as he breathed deeper from chanting.

Seeing the color return to his face was the best return on my investment of a little bit of time. I left my study materials with him, and when I arrived home, he called to tell me how much the first article he read encouraged him, and how much better he felt after my visit.