Your soul will rest in eternal peace

Kurt Vonnegut （～2007,04,11）

Reverence VS Report (EWG)

Even if we fired the first salvo of hydrogen weapons and the enemy never fired back, the poisons released would probably kill the whole planet by and by.

“Our economy today is not capitalism.

It’s casino-ism. That’s all the stock market is about. Gambling."

“I’m lucky enough to have known a great president, one who really cared about ALL the people, rich and poor. That was Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was rich himself, and his class considered him a traitor." 　　　　　　--Excerpt from Kurt Vonnegut's "Stardust Memory" at the Ohio State campus.

☆　☆　☆　☆　☆

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die. ... written by Mary Elizabeth Frye (1904-2004). She never published or copyrighted it, so there is no definitive version. Her obituary in The Times made it clear that she was the undisputed author this famous poem. She was born in Dayton, Ohio.

H.D.Thoreau "You must get your living by loving"

The Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever”
It says, “It’s getting hard to be someone but it all works out. It doesn’t matter much to me.”
That reminds me of “Life Without Principle” by H.D. Thoreau.

Excerpt from "Life Without Principle"
Let us consider the way in which we spend our lives. This world is a place of business. What an infinite bustle! I am awaked almost every night by the panting of the locomotive. It interrupts my dreams. There is no sabbath. It would be glorious to see mankind at leisure for once. It is nothing but work, work, work. I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself, than this incessant business.

If a man walk in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer; but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. As if a town had no interest in its forests but to cut them down!

The ways by which you may get money almost without exception lead downward. To have done anything by which you earned money merely is to have been truly idle or worse. If the laborer gets no more than the wages which his employer pays him, he is cheated, he cheats himself.
As for my own business, even that kind of surveying which I could do with most satisfaction my employers do not want. They would prefer that I should do my work coarsely and not too well, ay, not well enough. When I observe that there are different ways of surveying, my employer commonly asks which will give him the most land, not which is most correct.

The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get “a good job,” but to perform well a certain work; and even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, or even moral ends. Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.
It is remarkable that there are few men so well employed, so much to their minds, but that a little money or fame would commonly buy them off from their present pursuit.
If I should sell both my forenoons and afternoons to society, as most appear to do, I am sure that for me there would be nothing left worth living for. I trust that I shall never thus sell my birthright for a mess of pottage.There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of his life getting his living.
All great enterprises are self-supporting.

Merely to come into the world the heir of a fortune is not to be born; but to be stillborn, rather. You must get your living by loving.

In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the poor fellow who walks away with the greatest number of letters, proud of his extensive correspondence, has not heard from himself this long while.
Really to see the sun rise or go down every day, so to relate ourselves to a universal fact, would preserve us sane forever.
Written by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862 )
American author, philosopher, and naturalist
My close friend gave me "Walden, Civil disobedience and other writings on society" as a gift. At that time, it was Greek to me, but now I can read it. One joy also came to me today.
I'm so happy to recommend you one of his works.

Much has happened since we handed over our voice

Excerpt from Reports. Oct 19, 2006
Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.
Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.
Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated. Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.
Somehow torture is tolerated.
Somehow lying is tolerated.
Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.
Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.
Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat's birthday,(Nov.6.)
(The next day was elections.)
Written by Kevin Tillman. He joined the Army with his brother in 2002, and he served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was discharged in 2005. His brother, N.F.L. player, Pat Tillman was killed on April 22, 2004, by fire from his fellow soldiers.

Robert Scheer, a liberal syndicated columnist and the editor of Truthdig, based in Santa Monica, Calif. said of Kevin Tillman,"He is not proselytizing, he is not a political person. He just decided because his birthday was coming up he felt strongly that he had to say something. Since the article went up on the Web site, it has received more than 4,000 responses, though Web server limits have prohibited publishing that many".
For example, Comment#32292 "The points you make in your story are so important and I hope lots of people get to see this article".

The coalition takes enormous precautions

A team of American and Iraq epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred.

Of the total 655,000 estimated "excess deaths," 601,000 resulted from violence and the rest from disease and other causes, according to the study. This is about 500 unexpected violent deaths per day throughout the country.

The survey was done by Iraqi physicians and overseen by epidemiologists at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. The findings are being published online today (October 11, 2006) by the British medical journal the Lancet.

"We're very confident with the results," said Gilbert Burnham, a Johns Hopkins physician and epidemiologist

"The Department of Defense always regrets the loss of any innocent life in Iraq or anywhere else," said Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros. "The coalition takes enormous precautions to prevent civilian deaths and injuries."
-- Excerpt from washingtonpost.com

The population of Iraq (2006 estimate) is 26,783,383. Encyclopedia

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution

1. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

2. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

日本国民は、正義と秩序を基調とする国際平和を誠実に希求し、国権の発動たる戦争と、武力による威嚇又は武力の行使は、国際紛争を解決する手段としては、永久にこれを放棄する。

前項の目的を達するため、陸海空軍その他の戦力は、これを保持しない。国の交戦権は、これを認めない

Tomorrow, Nov.3 is Japan's national holiday called "Culture Day" (文化の日: bunka=文化　no=の hi=日 ）. Japanese Constitution was officially announced in 1946 and came into force on May 3 in 1947. To commemorate these events, Nov.3 and May 3 were made into national holidays.

Japan's Article 9 came after the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So, Article 9 reflects this new reality of potential nuclear and other kinds of technological annihilation of the species.

Nine public intellectuals (like Kenzaburo Oe or Ooe 大江健三郎) established Article 9 Association in 2004 to shine the light of Article 9 upon this turbulent world, in order to join hands with the peace-seeking citizens of the world.

Amish & Muslim examples

I read an article on the Amish school shooting on Oct2, 2006.
A grandfather of one of the murdered Amish girls says, “We must not think evil of this man.”
Amish neighbor comforted the murder’s family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them.

While reading, I’ve just remembered Ms. Welty’s case.
She lost her son, Firefighter Timothy Matthew Welty in the line of duty at the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001.
She visited Afghanistan in 2004, and met many families who had lost their homes and family members in the American bombing. She saw small children with artificial legs or arms, some were blind and all were scarred- not only physically but emotionally.

Yet, these people embraced her as a grieving mother, not as the enemy. They, like the families of 9/11, understand the true impact of the term civilian casualties.
Ms.Welty says, “We believe the cycle of violence and human trauma perpetrated in the name of our loved ones, must end, not only for ourselves, our own children and grandchildren, but for all generations to come on the face of the earth.”

"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self."
-- Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) an English writer

24-yr-old Thompson rescued Vietnamese civilians

For years, the U.S. military tried to cover up the My Lai massacre. In 1968, Hugh Thompson, door-gunner Lawrence Colburn and crew chief Glenn Andreotta rescued Vietnamese civilians from his fellow GIs during the My Lai massacre.

They landed the helicopter in the line of fire between American troops and fleeing Vietnamese civilians and pointed their own guns at the U.S. soldiers to prevent more killings.

“There were no weapons captured. There were no draft-age males killed. They were civilians,” says Colburn, referring to the ditch filled with bodies. “It was full … some of the people were still, they were dying, they weren't all dead.”

“I saved the people because I wasn't taught to murder and kill. I can't answer for the people who took part in it,” says Thompson. “I apologize for the ones that did. I just wished we could have helped more people that day.”
In fact, they did help more people. Thompson and Colburn found nine or 10 villagers cowering in a bunker. They radioed for a couple of choppers, which airlifted all of them to safety.

Later, Thompson was treated not as a hero, but as a traitor. He suffered snubs and worse from those who considered him unpatriotic. He recalled a congressman angrily saying that Thompson himself was the only serviceman who should be punished because of My Lai.

As the years passed, Thompson became an example for future generations of soldiers, said Col. Tom Kolditz, head of the U.S. Military Academy's behavioral sciences and leadership department. Thompson went to West Point once a year to give a lecture on his experience, Kolditz said.

In 1998, the Army honored the three men with the prestigious Soldier's Medal, the highest award for bravery not involving conflict with an enemy.

"It was the ability to do the right thing even at the risk of their personal safety that guided these soldiers to do what they did," Army Maj. Gen. Michael Ackerman said at the 1998 ceremony. The three "set the standard for all soldiers to follow."

But 30 years had passed since the massacre, and Thompson says it was strangely unsatisfying. Too late, he says, from a reluctant military leadership. But he felt far different on the stage in Nashville, as he was inducted on the first ballot into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame.

He says it’s a big honor. “This is my peers electing me to put me in there,” says Thompson. “This is my fellow aviators. And that makes me feel good.”

Thompson died Jan. 6. 2006. He was 62 yrs old. I shall never forget you.

--Excerpt from
Common dreams (a national non-profit citizens' organization)
60 Minutes

Why did Andrew Carnegie pick 38-yr-old-Schwab ?

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One of the first people in American business to be paid a salary of over a million dollars a year was Charles Schwab.
He had been picked by Andrew Carnegie to become the first president of the newly formed United States Steel Company in 1921, when Schwab was only thirty-eight years old.

Schwab says that he was paid this salary largely because of his ability to deal with people.

"I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people. The greatest asset I possess, the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement.
There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors. I never criticize anyone. I believe in giving a person incentive to work. So I am anxious to praise but loath to find fault. If I like anything, I am hearty in my approbation and lavish in my praise."

This is what Schwab did. But what do average people do? The exact opposite. If they don't like a thing, they bawl out their subordinates; if they do like it, they say nothing.

"In my wide association in life, meeting with many and great people in various parts of the world," Schwab declared, "I have yet to find the person, however great or exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than he would ever do under a spirit of criticism."
That he said, frankly, was one of the outstanding reasons for the phenomenal success of Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie praised his associates publicly as well as privately.

Carnegie wanted to praise his assistants even on his tombstone. He wrote an epitaph for himself which read: "Here lies one who knew how to get around him men who were cleverer than himself."
-- Excerpt from "How to Win Friends & Influence People"
Written by Dale Carnegie edited by Denik
Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) Pioneer in self-improvement training

Benjamin Franklin "I will speak ill of no man"

B.F.Skinner, the world-famous psychologist, proved through his experiments that an animal rewarded for good behavior will learn much more rapidly and retain what it learns far more effectively than an animal punished for bad behavior. Later studies have shown that the same applies to humans. By Criticizing, we do not make lasting changes and often incur resentment.

Hans Selye, another great psychologist, said, "As much as we thirst for approval, we dread condemnation."

Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person's precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment.

(... Abraham Lincoln put the letter aside, for he had learned by bitter experience that sharp criticisms and rebukes almost invariably end in futility.)

Benjamin Franklin, tactless in his youth, became so diplomatic, so adroit at handling people, that he was made American Ambassador to France. The secret of his success? "I will speak ill of no man," he said, "... and speak all the good I know of everybody."
-- Excerpt from "How to Win Friends & Influence People"
Written by Dale Carnegie

Franz Kafka 29 yrs old 'Metamorphosis'

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Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was born into German-speaking Jewish family in Prague (Czech: Praha), the capital of Bohemia (then in Austria-Hungary, now the Czech Republic). When he was 29yrs old, he wrote Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung) and it came out 3 yrs later.

When I was a teenager, I enjoyed this book as a comedy rather than a tragedy.It was because japanese translation was so good that I imagined his metamorphosis visually. Many years later, I read it again and tears flooded my eyes. My impression of this book changed completely.
I tasted 'Metamorphosis' like an aged wine.

After Gregor's metamorphosis, his family changes dramatically. He can't do without the good influence of the furniture on his state of mind but his family takes away everything he loves.
Before his sister goes to business, hurriedly pushes into his room with her foot any food that is available and in the evening clears it out again with one sweep of the broom. He is treated like a white elephant.

There has been a time when he prides himself on being considerate, but his circumstances are little by little conditioning his character.

'Metamorphosis' tells us many things.

"The most important thing in life is not to capitalize on your gains. Any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your losses. That requires intelligence; and it makes the difference between a man of sense and a fool."
--- William Bolitho

No more Militarism

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If we turn the back on politics, nothing will change for the better. I really hope politicians won't revive Militarism.

Have you ever heard about a small island called Ookuno (大久野）or Okuno? which is located in Hiroshima（広島）, had produced poison gas for World War Ⅱ.

In 1929, 6000 people were taken to the island. They didn't know what they would do; just they came to get work for a living. It wasn't long before they noticed that they had been deceived.

Their colleagues died in 3 minutes after making a careless mistake. Even so, they couldn't obtain a permit to get out of this island and in addition, they had to keep this job a secret from their families.
(According to 2005 press release, 3535 people have been suffering the aftereffects.)

In 1944, the military authorities stopped producing poison gas to suppress evidence. In other words, they already foresaw defeat 1 year before World War Ⅱ. However, ordinary people were killed like vermin until 1945.

Contemporary history doesn't have to do with the National Center Test for University Admissions. That's why Japanese students don't learn in earnest. Many teachers are reluctant to teach real history. Probably every country has the same problem more or less.

Fortunately, some elderly people began to speak their mind to us, younger generations. Most important, their war doesn't finish yet.

After war, elderly people worked just for living. Most of them had no leisure to appreciate the arts. Ils me semblaient avoir à demi perdu qualité humaine.

Now in Japan, nearly 100 people commit suicides every day, over 30,000 per year. Real number must be much more. Death from overwork is famous for "Karoshi". Many people work overtime without pay under industrial imperialism.

On one hand, people living in Japan are victims; on the other, Japan participates (participated) in X war. I've no doubt that I am a criminal. I'm responsible for these things, so I won't turn the back on politics.

When our houses are burning, one of our families (To me family means all animate beings) goes to set other houses on the fire to obey the command. How can we stop this vicious circle?

I believe in this quote. "Vengeance belongs only to God."

Chief Seattle says, "The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected."

To learn foreign languages

I always think things in Japanese and I keep a diary in Japanese. That's natural. But is that so? If I hadn't had any literacy? I mean, if I hadn't had any skill to get myself across, that must have been awful.

Fortunately, my Japanese level is higher than English. So I don't have to lose confidence, but if I hadn't realized the value of native tongue and I'd stopped learning in my teens, I would have felt regret without doubt. I really appreciate my (past) diligence.

My English is poor, not to mention French. It's easy to go into a sulk and change my blog in Japanese, but I keep it up. That's for my future.

"Diligence is a good thing, but taking things easy is much more restful."
Mark Twain

A fairy tale for adults by Kenji MIYAZAWA

Excerpt from "Night On The Milky Way Train"
'It's Scorpio's fire. A scorpion's not a nice insect. I saw one in alcohol at the museum. He's got a huge stinger on his tail, and the teacher said if he stings you, you die!' 'I know, but he's still a nice insect. My father told me that a long long time ago scorpion lived in Valdola Vale and he survived by killing teeny bugs and eating them up. Then one day he was caught by a weasel and it looked like he was going to be eaten all up himself. He tried to get away with all his might and he was about to be pinned down by the weasel when he saw this well and he fell right down into it, and there was no way in the world he could get back up, so it looked like he was going to drown for sure. So then he began to pray... ≪Oh, I can't remember how many living creatures I have killed in my lifetime, but now I found myself trapped by the weasel and running for my own life. Everything is so risky in life. Why didn't I just give my body to the weasel and be done with it? If I had, at least he would have been able to live another day. Dear God, please look into my heart and in the next life don't throw away my life in vain like this, but use my body for the good and happiness of all.≫ 'That's what he said. And scorpion saw his body turn bright red and burn into a beautiful flame, lightning up the darkness of the night sky. And he's burning now too, that's what my father said. That fire...it must be him.'
--Original title"銀河鉄道の夜" Ginga-tetsudo no yoru
Written by Kenji MIYAZAWA 宮沢賢治　(1896-1933)
Translated by Roger Pulvers (1944-) edited by Denik

Movie "Night on the Galactic Railroad"

That reminds me of "Man's Search for meaning" written by Victor Emil Frankl.
When he was 38 years old, he was deported to a Nazi concentration camp and survived, but his wife and parents were murdered in concentration camps.

Excerpt from "Man's Search for meaning"
"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances - to choose one's own way.

--- --- --- --- --- ---
Extrait de "Train de nuit dans la Voie lactée"
«Tu dis, le feu du Scorpion.Le scorpion n’est pas un insecte utile. Moi, j'en ai vu au Musée d'Histoire Naturelle, conservé dans de l'alcool. Sa queue est munie d'un crochet et dès qu'il pique, il tue, a dit le maître.» «Oui c'est vrai, Mais c’est tout de même un insecte bienfaisant, c’est mon père qui le disait. Autrefois, dans la campagne de Barudora, il y avait un scorpion qui tuait des petits insectes ou des petits animaux et les mangeait pour vivre. Et puis un jour il fut découvert par une belette qui voulut le dévorer. De toutes ses forces, le scorpion tenta de s’échapper mais il allait finir par se faire attraper quand brusquement il se trouva devant un puits dans lequel il tomba et dont il ne put absolument plus sortir. Il commençait à se noyer quand il se mit à prier ainsi : 《Hélas, moi qui ne sais jusqu’à présent de combien d’êtres j’ai ôté la vie, cette fois j’ai employé tout mon zèle à m’échapper quand la belette allait m’attraper. Et pourtant, voilà où j’en suis arrivé... Ah, il ne faut être sûr de rien! Pourquoi ne me suis-je pas laissé ravir sans résistance mon corps par la belette? Elle aurait vu sa vie allonger d’un jour. Je vous en prie, ô Dieu! Veuillez examiner mon coeur! Ne me faites pas mourir de façon aussi futile, je vous en supplie, dans une prochaine existence, servez-vous de mon corps pour le vrai bonheur de tous!》 Voilà ce qu’il dit. À la suite de quoi, le scorpion s’aperçut que son propre corps était devenu, sans qu’il sache comment, un feu splendide d’un rouge éclatant qui brûlait et éclairait les ténèbres de la nuit. Et mon père m’a appris qu’il ne cessait plus jamais de brûler. Sans aucun doute, ce feu là-bas, c’est lui! »
--Traduit par Hélène Morita

There is luck in leisure

"果報は寝て待て"（Kahouwa nete mate) in Japanese.
= "La fortune vient en dormant."
= (similar) "There is luck in leisure."
Leisure means the time when you are not working or studying, and can relax and do things you enjoy.

I also like Chinese quotes very much.
They refer to pleasure (the feeling of happiness).
”楽以忘憂。”　by 孔子(B.C.552-479)
孔子says," Pleasure drives away our worries."
”楽不必尋。去其苦之者而楽自存。” by 洪自誠（unknown 16th)
洪自誠 says," You don't have to seek happiness. If you stop worrying, you feel happiness without notice."
That reminds me of "The Blue Bird" ("L'oiseau bleu") written by Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949).

John Lennon -- You gotta keep watering it.

John Lennon "Man of the Decade" Interview 1969

To work on this relationship with Yoko is very hard, and we've got the gift of love. But love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard, or just think it's gonna get on with itself. You gotta keep watering it. You've got to really look after it, and be careful of it, and keep the flies off and see that it's alright, and nurture it.

That reminds me of "The little prince"
It’s the time you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important.People have forgotten this truth. But you mustn’t forgotten it. You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose.

Ça me rappelle "Le petit prince"
C’est le temps que tu as perdu pour ta rose qui fait ta rose si importante.Les hommes ont oublié cette vérité. Mais tu ne dois pas l’oublier. Tu deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoisé. Tu es responsable de ta rose.

René Descartes -- Quote

René Descartes est né en 1596. "Je pense, donc je suis." est très connu. La philosophie forme l'esprit, au même titre que les mathématiques. Ce qui est important,c'est de remettre en cause nos croyances, et de ne pas avoir peur de critiquer les religions.

"La lecture de tous les bons livres est comme une conversation avec les plus honnêtes gens des siècles passés qui en ont été les auteurs."

René Descartes was born in 1596. "I think, therefore I am." is so popular. Philosophy forms the spirit, as well as mathematics. Most important thing is to reconsider our beliefs and not to be afraid of criticizing religions.

"The reading of all good books is indeed like a conversation with the noblest men of past centuries who were the authors of them."