Sunday 9 August 2015

Whatshan Family and Friends Days 2015

In July 2015 families attended Whatshan Family and Friends Days. This year the Festival was held on the weekend of July 10-12 (Fri-Sun). Previous summer events were called : Whatshan Music and Family Festival. Invitation flyer (PDF) — 18 PhotosSatellite map.


Danny and Kathleen Picton of Surrey, British Columbia who attended this year's event sent 18 photos showing plans for the future, the Doukhbor Sunday morning assembly, fire and food preparation, and many happy people. Meals were $14-$26, kids half price. Music by That Girl and Earl, The Balladeers, Jason Markin, and open mic with other musicians, singers and/or poets.

At Whatshan Lake Retreat you can get away from it all to enjoy quiet peaceful walks and moments of contemplation. Paddle your canoe or kayak on the lake or plunge into bracing cool waters of the swimming hole in the nearby river.

In the winter bring your snowshoes and skis and trek through over 200 acres of wilderness and beyond and then warm everyone up with some hot chocolate in one of the modern cabins near the Monashee mountains. The site is 15 km by road from Edgewood, and 75 km. north of Castlegar. See satellite map.

The Retreat Centre Lodge offers full facilities for seminars, workshops, family gatherings, weddings, concerts, and youth activities. Their acoustically engineered stage is perfect for music festivals and plays under the stars. No matter what time of year, Whatshan Lake Retreat is a great meeting place for large groups, friends and family.


More

Hijacking Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Killing people is a crime. But killing people indiscriminately, as was done in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 70-years ago, is a crime against humanity. This is an example of brain-washing using war mentality as an excuse for 'profit, democracy and freedom'. As people of conscience, we need to start learning the truth of history about the corporate hijacking of liberal democracy by an arrogant and greedy ruling elite who are threatening our civilization.

War is an outdated solution to diversity in our society. There are no winners in war. Wisdom people remind us that the road to peace is peace.

The alternative to a world-wide holocaust can be found in the teachings of love and the persistence of the human spirit. Not only must we stop nuclear wars, but we must say NO to all wars. A NONKILLING APPROACH is the way of the future.

2053+ nuclear explosions occurred since 1945. Explosion data was animated with sound to show the location and date of event on a world map (14:24 min video). Explosion counts appear at bottom right in red, date (month, year) upper right, country counts appear with flags. Be sure your computer sound is "on" to hear each bomb beep. After minute 3 (1954) nuclear bomb testing increases. After the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty (minute 5, bomb count 600), testing continued 1450+ times underground. Best viewed full screen at YouTube.


The data shown animated above can be seen on one map: Nuclear Explosions Since 1945. Source data with more graphs: Nuclear Explosions 1945-1998.

To wean people from militarism to the new paradigm of nonkilling, here are 10 steps as presented by Medea Benjamin for bringing about peace in a US foreign policy context:
  1. Reduce military spending by building a peace economy.
  2. Expand the use of diplomacy.
  3. Abide by international law. No unauthorized wars.
  4. Work toward a nuclear-free, peaceful world.
  5. Promote women in peacemaking.
  6. Close overseas military bases.
  7. Observe US laws prohibiting the sale of weapons to human rights violators.
  8. End the militarization of police departments and borders.
  9. Stop illegal detention of prisoners in Guantanamo and elsewhere, hold torturers accountable.
  10. Respect whistle blowers and our privacy.
With election season upon us, it is a good time to let people running for office know that we in North America (including Canada!) would be safer and more prosperous if we stopped seeking enemies overseas and instead focused on building a peaceful nonkilling foreign policy and a peace-oriented domestic economy.

In summary, let's cease being brain-washed fearful hijackers of the war machine and its greedy corporate profiteers and take responsibility in being real moral peacemakers of human life and the environment.

See all my reports since 2009: 1945 A-bombing of Japan Memorials.

More
  1. 'Intl tribunal should try 1945 US nuke attacks on Japan - Duma chief'. RT (Russia Today), August 5, 2015.
  2. Kelsey D. Atherton. America Reflects On The Bomb, 70 Years After Hiroshima. Selected reading on the Apocalypse at the end of World War II, Popular Science, August 6, 2015.
  3. Medea Benjamin. '10 Steps to Wean US Foreign Policy Off Militarism, Common Dreams, August 7, 2015.
  4. Nils-Olov Bergkvist and Ragnhild Ferm. Nuclear Explosions 1945-1998 (PDF), Swedish Defence Research Establishment (FOI) and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), 2000. — Source data animated by Isao Hashimoto, below.
  5. Isao Hashimoto. 1945-1998 (14:24 min. video) 2003. — Location and month 2053 nuclear explosions since 1945 animated on world map.
  6. John Horgan. 'Historian Contemplates "Ugly" Reality of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.' Scientific American, August 5, 2015.
  7. Danny Lewis. The Nagasaki Bombing Almost Didn’t Happen, Smithsonian.com, August 7, 2015.
  8. Danny Lewis. Bats and Balloon Bombs: The Weird Weapons That Could Have Won WWII, Smithsonian.com, August 10, 2015.
  9. Paul Maillet. 'P5+1 plus Iran Comprehensive Nuclear Program Agreement. Time to re-establish Canada as a global citizen for peace.' Awakening the Peace Maker Within, August 6, 2015.
  10. Peggy Mason, Ceasefire. 'Sign the petition - Hiroshima Day 70 years after.' August 5, 2015.
  11. Joachim Mohr and Matthias Schepp. 'Mikhail Gorbachev: US Military an 'Insurmountable Obstacle to a Nuclear-Free World. Spiegel Online International, August 6, 2015. The same story was reported with integrity by Stephen Lendman, Global Research, August 8, 2015: 'Gorbachev Fears Nuclear War. "As Long As these Weapons Exist, Sooner or Later They Will Be Used".
  12. Kumi Naidoo. 'Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Remembering the Power of Peace.' Common Dreams, August 6, 2015.
  13. Scott Neuman. '70 Years After Atomic Bombs, Japan Still Struggles With Wartime Past.' NPR, August 6, 2015.
  14. Michael Shermer. 'The 70th Anniversary of the Summer of The Bomb, After seven decades should we be optimistic or pessimistic?' Scientific American, August 6, 2015.