Wednesday, November 11, 2020

 

A Prayer for Our Veterans

Unlike Trump,  I have great empathy and compassion for the unselfish men and women that have volunteered for the armed services since the end of WWII. As we look back over history with a critical eye, we have to wonder what good have we accomplished with our might since then. The Korean, Viet Nam, Afganistan, and Iraq wars achieved what?  As Hawkeye cried in the famous MASH series, "Mamed and wounded boys just keep coming and coming, for what"? 

Thousands upon thousands of our loyal troops have died, been maimed, and emotionally damaged to the point of daily suicides. Trump most obviously could care less. But is he the only one? Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Clinton, Bush, and oh yes, Obama sent our troops into harm's way for what? Our freedom was never at risk, but resources like oil and strategic alliances were. Strategic positions in oil in the middle east were at stake; we were not.

 Notice how the War on Terror just faded away, like an expired TV show. Please don't ask why we are hated throughout the world. We threw free elections and supported dictators the likes of Allende to Hussein and the Shaw of Iran. And please do not chant the trite knee jerk, "freedom is not free." I am less free and safe to travel the world for the lives and the trillions of dollars wasted than I have ever been. While on business in Malaysia, years back, merely producing my American Passport evoked frightening ire.  

My voice is muted by those who lust for world power. I grieve for the veterans. They did not ask why; they just went. We, the people, failed them when we let fear silence our hearts. We can start to make amends by really taking care of our veterans no matter what it costs. We must stop the next president that attempts to use our troops as centurions of hegemony. When we do this, we authentically "support our troops." I pray President Joe Biden will have such a heart.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

American Abandoned


December 2019
Abandoned by America
Rick Bennett

Growing up in the "Wonder Years" of the 1950s in Southern California in my middle class "Navy" family was simply ideal, or so it appeared.   Times were good, and the economy was a “gold rush. All of us knew we had a life filled with great promise of the American Dream.  Even with the contrived hype and fear of the cold war era, we knew peace at least for a while.  What we could not see or even know about is that the power brokers of Americaʻs Oligarch had begun to stack the deck. We began the  "Winner Take All" politics of America.  The monied elite waged profitable wars all over the world. The working class was strangled.  We have a low unemployment rate, but today the truth is  44% of US workers make less than $20,000 a year.  The American Deal was a ruse.

America was about lofty ideals about ethics and human rights. We believed our government was of the people and by the people. Each day we prayed and pledged to believe in liberty and justice for all.  I felt that as I knew that the sun would rise tomorrow.  It was the truth, my truth, my belief, and I had all the faith in the good ole USA one could have.

Then one day, sitting in my high school art class, the load speaker interrupted the bliss of day.  "The President of the United States has been shot," the principal announced.  In that instant, my faith and security in America were shattered and shattered again and again as the dime novel excuses about JFK's murderer unfolded day after day.  

I was very inquisitive at 13 years old.  The story we were supposed to believe was too pat, too much like a cheap novel to be the credible words of my government.  The real truth was not for us to know.  Others were in control.

 Even 50 years later, the assassination documents remain classified. We were not the nation we thought we were. It was clear to me then as it is today, the government's lie and lie with impunity.  They speak great words but serve other interests.

The Viet Nam War, expanded by the Gulf of Tonkin lie,  killed many of my friends in body and soul.  For me, it killed any notion that we waged war to bring freedom and liberty to the people. One of my “dead soul” veteran friends would take suspected Viet Cong sympathizers up in a helicopter and interrogate them while they hung partway out the gunner's door.  He lost track of how many "fell" as his daily reports to the upper brass suggested. I pray he will forgive himself, acting only as a centurion in a war system that has no ethic other than to serve itself at the moment. 

It was General Westmoreland in the throws of loser's desperation told the commanders in Viet Nam to "kill anything that moves."  Decades later, in an act worthy of admiration,   Secretary of Defense McNamara found his soul and told the story of the government's egotistical war deceptions.

 At the time, my generation made great music.  Grew our hair long while unrelenting in the protest of the war.  We wished to believe our soulful crusade for peace ended the war.  It was the N. Viet Nam invasion of the south that drove the US scrambling out of the country in defeat.  We could not stop the war machine.

Unenlightened by history while waging the War on Terror, the egregious behavior of Viet Nam continues.  This time the government-controlled the public narrative.   We tortured people just because they were suspicious. We had the moral depravity to justify torture as "advanced interrogation techniques." Torture by any other name  Dick Chaney and others so proudly extolled.  My god, are these our United States of America leaders?

We unleashed a civil war that has destroyed lives and countries. This behavior does not speak well of we the ethical American electorate. Where is that sixties soul now?

These days my hair is grey and mostly gone. In spite of two decades as an academic with The University of California, I am learned, experienced, and cynical.  Perhaps, that is the fate of my generation. Our soul got lost to cynicism and resignation.

 The forces of special interest effortlessly game the system.  We have the best bureaucracy, and elected officials money can buy.   That is cynical truth we must accept. In doing, so there was hope.  Yet accepting the truth in spite of our fundamentalist zeal is hard, if not impossible.   Perhaps like any addict, we will have to "hit bottom" before we realize we abandoned America and not the other way around.

For our abandonment, the door to the unimaginable happened.  In a mindless reaction, the 9/11 horror was a call to arms. We waged war on terror.  The neocons got the war they wanted.  Richard Perle implored, in his book, The End of Evil, What America Needed Was A New Pearl Harbor."  His suggestion was not mere rhetoric, it was a threat, and it was a plan.

 The notion that some hijackers and three planes could wreak such destruction on four buildings defies the laws of physics.  The explosive cutting charge,  Super Thermite laced the dust of the Twin Towers.  Burning Super Thermite liquifies steel; burning jet fuel only gets it hot.  Burning aviation kerosene will not melt steel and topple buildings.

The horror of September 11th shattered me again.  How could we have messed up so big?  We know very well we are hated in the Middle East.  The CIA has a term for such predictable events. They call it "BLOWBACK."    Secretary Rice declared," No one ever imagined this kind of attack. To ease my pain, I needed to believe her!  Such a situation was indeed envisioned in military and engineering documents, years before 9/11. 

To justify the invasion of Iraq, she said we should not wait for the mushroom cloud to prove  Iraq had nuclear capability.   We know now such statements were engineered lies from the leaders of the United States of America.  There was no real evidence that Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attacks.  General Colin Powell lied to the world, claiming with bogus evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.  I guess I forgot my truth; they lie with impunity in all ways and always. 

I was not to question that an ad hoc group of men with box cutters hijacked some planes and crashed them into the towers and the Pentagon. So much evidence was omitted and ignored in the 911 Commission Report.   There was no forensic financial investigation, just as there was no forensic examination of the physical evidence.  A massive amount of evidence, the steel structures, were cut up and hurridly shipped to China.  Over raging denial, I could see it was the perfect cover-up.

Our lives, our freedoms, our government, and our world has changed dramatically for the worse based on deception, ignorance, and the crimes of 9/11.  We were trained in my high school Critical Thinking class to be more critical, analytical, and less presumptive.  Critical analysis was not the intent of the 9/11 commission and so similar to the plan of the Warren Commission Report.   Both tragedies and both reports were the workings of the American Oligarchs.

The "War on Terror" and the trillions of dollars splashed around aimlessly was a promise to keep us free.  Freedom is not free; they chanted. President Bush said in effect if you are not with us, you are for the terrorists.  In one sentence, he chided us into becoming a nation of fearful sheep and mad dogs.  Few grant themselves any truthful inquiry or freedom to ask why.  The statue of fear became a permanent feature of our soul.  

Decades of deceit set us up perfectly in anger and despair.   It was those emotions that elected a pathologic narcissist.  Despite his despicable behavior, he is worshipped by his cult as a saint.  Ethics, morality, and respect for the rule of law are in the throes of death.   We like lemmings run in fear, for the sea, taking this young republic with it.

The founding people of this nation lived in England dominated by the King.   The broke away, sailed to the new world,  declared and fought a revolution. It is time for a new revolution. As the astute Christopher Hedges proclaimed a few years ago,  nothing short of a revolution will restore integrity to these United States.   This revolution must deplore violence.  The revolution to give democracy back to the people it will be the hardest thing “We the People” will ever do. I owe it to my grandchildren to work to restore these United States of America to real democracy, lest they ask, why did you give up?  When will you ever learn?



Monday, August 5, 2019

Honoring the Sacred


It is not about science versus what is sacred.
Rick Bennett MS, PhD
Applied Life Sciences, LLC
Kukuiopae, Hawai‘i
Way back in 1973, I began my graduate school education to become a scientist. By 1974 I was collecting data and analyzing it. Those were my first days being scientific. Then in 1976, the University of California awarded me its highest degree. I was but 26 years old. I had learned a new language, the language of science. Even in those formative years, my ethic directed me to use this new tool only for good.
It disturbs me no end; the hear the media and various "leaders" cast science as some exalted religion that by definition, is intrinsically right and true. They use being scientific to mean, all things scientific are inherently better than any other. This is an ignorant abuse of the term.
Science is not a religion, a philosophy, or a set of fixed ideologies. Science is a method to investigate the natural world systematically. Like any other tool in the hands of people, it is subject to benign misinterpretation and vulnerable to selfish abuse and human atrocities. In modern history, we have witnessed science used for horrific purposes. One most notable abuse occurred on Moloka‘i at Kalaupapa. The medical doctor M. Mouritz intentionally infected local people with the leprosy agent to study the disease.[1] Similarly, African American men were purposefully infected with Syphilis in 1932 and followed up until 1972, when a newspaper story exposed the doctors.[2] The US military and the CIA conducted many experiments on humans without regard for their rights or well-being. The US military sprayed bacteria on San Francisco and other cities as a bio-weapons test in 1950. They believed bacteria were harmless; however, some people got serious infections and died.[3] The military conducted this experiment in the name of science. The list of horrific experiments could go on and on. Slightly less lethal but certainly not benign is the significant number of scientific studies, conducted on new drugs. The data was falsified to make the drugs appear safe and effective when they were not.[4] Let's suffice it to say science is a double-edged sword, and its effects are all determined by the person wielding it.
As a teenager, I had the great fortune for the opportunity to travel into many wilderness areas of California. I vividly recall standing at the base of Mt. Whitney as the setting sun cast ethereal shadows across its face. I felt in the presence of the Creator.
My family spent many weekends in the deserts in the south of California. There were times when the vast majesty of a verdant wildflower-filled valley or the pastel hues of the Chocolate Mountains would evoke a sense of awe and great reverence. We were not a religious family, but these experiences taught me the word sacred. That understanding has guided me as a person and a scientist all my life. It has evoked great respect and compassion for beliefs of indigenous peoples of the world. Not too many years ago, a tribal elder took me aside and told me; it is time native people teach the westerners how to live in the world. I told him given the wrath we have wrought on the planet; we do need to learn.
From time to time, believing in the sacred put me at odds with my scientist friends. I recall a rousing conversation I had with an overzealous scientist colleague. I was attempting to explain my belief in nature as a sacred thing. He retorted, there is no such attribute to nature. It cannot be measured; therefore, it does not exist. This belief about measuring among scientists is not unique. I felt unable to defend my belief, and then it hit me. I retorted I am sure you love your wife and family. Of course, he snapped. Well then, I said, how do you measure love?
The first time I visited Mauna Kea, I was awestruck, just like in my youth. It is a feeling, a belief that cannot fully be explained and certainly not measurable. The sunset photo I have reminds me of that moment every day. Thus, it brings me great sadness to see and hear people juxtapose what is sacred against what is science. The implication is one wrong, and one is right. The bias is both disrespectful of the Hawaiian people and purposeful manipulation of what science means. It is a false dichotomy.
For years I have searched for information about natural places in the Western World we westerners regard as sacred. To date, I have found only one. It is a forest in the Midwest where the founder of the Mormon Church received a revelation. Yes, there are a significant number of churches and other human-made religious icons revered as sacred. I can find no valley, river, or mountain in the North or South America or Europe regarded by the westerners as sacred.
In Native America from Alaska to the tip of South America, there are thousands of natural places regarded as sacred by the indigenous peoples. From the first days of colonial beginnings, indigenous peoples and their sacred lands were denigrated, rejected, and destroyed by the people and governments of the colonies. In effect, they said, my culture is right; yours is primitive, unholy, and wrong.
Japan, in many respects, is more technologically advanced than the USA and yet their Shinto traditions are revered. The mere mention of building a massive telescope on top of Mt. Fuji is unfathomable. Sacred places and technology have their appropriate places. They have a cultural tradition ethic not commonly found in Western Society.
My Hawaiian Sister Puna Kihoi has taught me the meaning of Kapu Aloha; to act only from love, kindness, and empathy. This is the ethic of the protectors, the Kia‘i and is amazingly noble given the history of sedition toward this sovereign nation.  However, I remain somewhat wary of the telescope’s leaders. They declare unequivocally that there is no military connection to the project.  During my research on the beginnings of the telescope proposal, it is troubling to find the US Department of Defense funds the Lincoln Laboratory. The lab is an exclusive military R and D facility at MIT. Our tax money intended for space security and warfare, funds some of the critical work on the "adapted optics" imaging systems for the TMT.[5] Moreover, Lincoln Labs is collaborating with the scientists at Keck. There is a military connection on the Mauna. Detailed information is inaccessible and probably classified. We can only hope that "national security" will not be used as an excuse to lock Mauna Kea away.
Many people, including our Mayor, are shocked to learn as a scientist I do not support the TMT. People express surprise when I recognize the sacredness of Mauna Kea and do not approve of any development on the mountain. They seem to be saying I cannot be a scientist and believe in sacred lands too.  Yes, I find astronomy and astrophysics an interesting curiosity. Rather we should spend the money on understanding our planet, one that is very sick and needs much restoration from the Western ethic and deeds of exploitation.
Hawaii is my home; Hawaiian is my adopted culture. I have the honor to be hānai (adopted).  I have three sisters, that are friends, and mentors.  They enrich my understanding of what is sacred. In my scientist being, there is much room and Aloha that honors, respects, and cherishes what is sacred and pono.
For me, it is not about a big telescope versus the Hawaiians. It is about a centuries-old Western Culture that is too narcissistic and parochial to open its heart and mind to people other than themselves. Someday they will learn Kapu Aloha.
I stand with my brothers and sisters. Onipa‘a!


References
[1] HUMAN INOCULATION EXPERIMENTS IN HAWAII INCLUDING NOTES ON THOSE OF ARNING AND OF FITCH M. Mouritz, Honolulu Star Bulletin Press 1916. http://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v19n2a11.pdf
[2] Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm


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