Hi all! It is good to be here... I see quite a few people that are already friends. I think that this group is a really great idea. I got yelled at once here in care to for posting a picture of the war... the guy told me that that I had no business using a picture of a crying soldier carrying a dead child. Can you imagine that... the nerve of me to use a picture of human beings to convey the human disaster that is war... go figure.

Thank you Free for the invite.. I will try to pop in as often as I can!

Hope to make some new friends as well as touch base with some old... (not that any of us are old... that's not what I meant... OK, I shut up now!)

May each of you always have enough... Peace and Love,

Melissa

Eleanor, Janice, Keith, Che

Great to see you here....

I just love your opinion and hope to see some more here.

Hey, Yvonne...i'm already here! thanks for your invitation...if i can't post fotos here, surely will always make it a point to check on this and scribbled a few words.

love ya,

che

Gracias por la invitacion, Jennifer

Super buena idea!!!

War is immoral and unjust. It brings only humiliation and suffering to innocent people who live in terrible fear, misery and who lose their relatives every day.

War devastates and plunges a country in complete chaos. Nothing but riun and death !! Why does it all take place in today's world ?? War is not the solution !!!!!!!!

Remember about it and don't be afraid to say :

STOP THE WAR !!!!!

You're so funny John

Manena, Nice to see u here.... u will have a look at beautiful Lebanon.

Thanks for the invitation Yvonne

www.myspace.com/palestine

www.myspace.com/manendiaz

Hi Yvonne!

Thank you for your invite to this group! I will invite more of my friends here. However please do NOT contribute that long lenthy discussions! Only that people did!

In the other group (you would know what that group was) everybody got sick and tired!

Keep walking until you get to Lebanon. You will be glad you went there. Lebanon is beautiful.

Thank you for the opportunity to share Lebanon's beauty with the world.
Click on the links below for photos:

Lebanon Photo Pages:   1  |   2  |   3  |   4  |   5  |   6  |   7  |   8  |   9  |   10  |   11  |   12  |   13  |   14  |   15  |   16  |   17  |   18  |   19  |   20  |  

21  |   22  |   23  |   24  |   25  |   26  |   27  |   28  |   29  |   30  |   31  |   32  |   33  |   34  |   35  |   36  |   37  |   38  |   39  |   40  |  

Thanks for the invitation!   I shall definitely post images, as I am a visual artist, as well as a writer, cultural-socio-psychologist, historian, overeducated pedant... 

In response to Eileen S., and for anyone else who is interested, here's a linkto a thread I just started in my Inclusive Language group. We need, IMO, to deconstruct the language that is being used, especially in the US media, but also here in the UK, to get past the propaganda-machine. There is truth. It's not what we're hearing.

In response to the 'culture of violence' post: . In 1989, I wrote my master's thesis: 'Peace Begins at Home -- The Relationship of Domestic Violence to World Peace'. At the time, there was nothing in the DV literature, and nothing in the Peace and Justice literature, linking the two. Now, it's fairly old news.

I would just like to add that behind all the glorification of violence, there is a huge amount of fear. Fear of the unknown, of the different, of the potential enemy, of the foreign, of older, more complex cultures, of simpler ways of life, of dependence, of those upon whom there is dependence, of change, and of course, ultimately, of self.

I am Indian-British, (the Muslim name was chosen. Long story), but spent the greater part of 40 of my nearly 45 years in the USA. I returned to the UK in January, and am still adjusting... and quite appalled by Tony B Liar.

Curiously, in a paper I did on criminology, in the early 1980s, Australia was the closest to the USA, in terms of gun-crime,and violence in general. There are parallels in terms of the newness of the countries, 'Pioneer Spirit', guns being part of the foundation of the colonies, and so on. There's also a sort of 'John Wayne factor' the countries had in common, 20-odd years ago. I don't know about now.

There is plenty of violence in the UK, unfortunately. *crybig* The economy is so poor, and the people so frustrated, that the rate of violent assaults -- generally knife-brawls -- is up by 75% over 5 years ago. It doesn't help that this sodden archipelago is an open-air drunk-tank, where psychiatric medicine and psychology are still so stigmatised, (and the care so USA-1960s) that many, many folk have told me, 'I'd rather be a drunk, than be seen going in or out of a mental-health centre'.

The Police Force are calling for more firearms, and 'anti-social behaviour' is an hideous open sore in urban Britain.

Here, the fear isn't very well-hidden by machismo. It's virtually palpable. The Home Office is in such a shambles that they are too busy protecting prisoners' rights, to protect the public. There is neither space, nor money, for the kind of throw-away-the-key sentencing, which they have in the States, and which is desperately needed here.

Excellent thoughts and comments, mate. You are either a natural, at socio-psychology, and cultural analysis, or you've studied it a good deal. You said many very true (if off-topic*biggrin*) things, about which we all need to think. .

Leïlah el Khalil Zendavesta, MAR
Speke, Liverpool

Hola everyone

Thankyou for inviting me here Dave!

Good on you Dave and Freediver for creating this group!

I would like to say something about the portrayal of violence in the U.S. media. Let's start by looking at the reality of the U.S.A. and its effect on the world:

People in the U.S.A. have at least 10x the chance of being murdered of the chance in Australia. Violent crime there is rife - violence is a big part of the culture there. (To put this in context: most police in the U.K. and Japan don't carry guns - the U.K. and Japan much more often solve problems without resorting to violence - e.g. using social support to prevent crime.)

The majority of U.S. citizens vote for war-mongering politicians, plenty of young U.S. citizens straight out of highschool join the military (ignorant of the reality that they will be cannon-fodder and murderers, causing so much suffering and hatred towards the U.S.A.), the U.S.A. has fought in more wars than any other country in the last 50 years, the U.S.A. spends more money on its military than the rest of the world (and when it comes to the Middle East, gives $4 billion dollars of military aid to Israel every year) - and U.S. culture, specifically the U.S. media is conducive to this.

How is the U.S. media conducive to the creation of the notoriously violent and war-mongering culture of the U.S.A.? Violence is rife in the U.S. media, violence is sanitised and glamourised - and it is treated as a solution extremely often - in movies and TV shows, as well as in the news and current affairs. (E.g. it is easy to see that "Doctor Who" is a British program rather than a U.S. one - because the "heroes" in it usually use their brains and talking to solve conflicts, instead of going out guns blazing, like they do in U.S. shows.)

The sanitisation and glorification of violence in the U.S. media (with the exception of a few films like "Unforgiven") hide the reality of violence (particularly the consequences of war) from the U.S. people. It indoctrinates U.S. citizens to support violent and military reactions to problems (e.g. attacking Afghanistan and Iraq as some kind of "solution" to the 9/11 plane crashes), through their ignorance of the carnage and suffering of violence and war, especially that which is caused by the U.S. military and U.S. foreign policies (e.g. the strong military support for Israel which has resulted in the killing of 4 Palestinians for every Israeli citizen, not to mention the devastation, poverty and suffering of the people of Palestine).

I say that if military recruits had seen and heard the voices and stories of people suffering from what their military and foreign policy does while they were growing up,  particularly since childhood is the time when people form most of their ideas about life, then they would not become military cadets as teenagers, and would not be fooled by military recruiters at the end of highschool - AND SO THEY WOULD NOT BECOME CANNON FODDER AND MURDERERS FOR THE IMPERIALIST INTERESTS OF THE U.S. RICH AND POWERFUL - and the U.S. could not continue its imperialist mass-murders and destruction around the world. (And U.S. citizens would not vote for politicians who engage in similar globally unpopular foreign policies, such as the support of brutal authoritarian governments like that of Guatemala, nor brutal imperialist regimes like Israel and Turkey.)

So, in conclusion, if people are to be exposed to violence in the media, then let's show them the reality of violence, so they will not develop unrealistic beliefs about it. And if people are to make any decisions about violence and war (e.g. getting involved in military schools or joining the military, as well as voting and being involved in politics generally - from writing essays, to going to "support our troops" rallies), then let's first make them well aware of the reality of violence and war.

Dave,Thanks for the invitation...

Bow...

for the and the invitation, Dave; I hope to contribute some "images" to this group ...

Thanks for the invite Dave. I too have "images" of war. I will come and go depending on my personal strength at the moment, but you guys have my complete support.  

Peace through Freedom with Justice

Thanks for the invite. There has to be a way to stop BU-SH & the war he started. BU-SH planed 911. Because he wanted the American people to back a war. The American people fell for his lies. Now our young men & women are dying, all for oil & to make G.W.King. Someone needs to take G.W.BU-SH out before he starts world war 3. We are already in another Viet Nam. The only differance is there is no draft & it's another country.  I thought we learned our lesson in Nam. I reckin' the American people are too hungry for money & STUPID too!!! But not all of us, Some of us are as MAD AS HELL! & we are NOT going to take it anymore! Then there is Isreal. Which the U.S.is arming. The only WMS in the mid-east is G.W.BU-SH. I've said it before & I'll say it again. Someone needs to take that SOB out. SOB does NOT stand for SON OF A BU-SH. Let there be PEACE.

Thanks Freediver for the invite...

Although I am not sure to which extend I can view images of war at this moment in my life...

It hurts me deeply, and even if I am conscious that pain is a "messenger," that pain is there to remind me of the pain war itself is... I am shocked every time I see war here or there.

I have an im image on my pc that I seen only once, and that I had to put in an individual file, for I can not look at it. I never deleted it, for I still show it to people that have strong enough of a "heart" to view it.

I think that this group is a good one to have, for reality is what it is.

My only concern is that the group is open, and that some might not agree with such a concept. (children might browse through...)

I think that the group should be accessible to adults only, as well as being closed to public viewing.

Freedom, Peace, Love, Respect, Humbleness, Courage, Integrity, Consistency and Unity... If we want to get there, there are sacrifices to make.

Freedom is never Free, but it also is never dumb.

Thanks for the reality check... Don't we all need it???!!!

Sad, it is all so grievous.  Some much of the information, on both sides is exagerated and minimized.  Truth is hard to find.

Peace is the price of freedom.

for the welcome Dave. And TY Free for the invite.