1933 Crossword: 'Doukhobor'

By 1933, so many newspaper reports about 'Doukhobors' had been published in California that one crossword creator decided to use this new word in a puzzle.

Daily crossword puzzle "Largest Deer", Santa Cruz Evening News, 31 March 1933, page 7

Answer next day.

The word also appeared in educational newsprint 'fillers', to fill a small gap in text.

In most of North America (Canada, USA, Mexico), a new generation of readers was exposed to this 'strange' new word mistakenly and confusingly describing all kinds of 'Doukhobors' as one group with one 'king'.

1929

• For days "naked fanatic" Doukhobors parade in Grand Forks, many arrested
• Doukhobor firefighters

1931

• Doukhobors banned from voting and moving to Mexico
• Peter V. Verigin's tomb dynamited
• nude 'Doukhobors' punished with itching powder

1932

• Doukhobors bombed school
• 118 Doukhobor nudists arrested
• Doukhobor prison camp proposed
• confused Washington DC reporter summarized: "... independent, community and Sons of Freedom Doukhobors. Basic beliefs are the same."
• 59 nudes in SK charged with 'vagrancy'
• more than 550 arrested
• Peter P. Verigin, Jr. imprisoned 18 months in SK for 'perjury'
• Peter P. Verigin, Jr. resigns as leader
• 2 Sons of Freedom Doukhobors released from prison want back in to join husbands

1933

• elderly Doukhobor couple drowns after driving car into Kootenay Lake
• about 1000 'Doukhobors' arrested near Nelson BC
• Peter P. Verigin Jr. to be deported to Russia
• attorney Peter G. Makaroff rushes to Halifax to stop deportation
• John J. Verigin, 10 years old, may be next Doukhobor king
• Doukhobor leader freed from jail and rearrested for debt
• 1 million acres (1,563 mi2) reserved for Doukhobors in Mexico
• spiritual head of Doukhobor sect goes home to SK
• Verigin trip home postponed due to frostbite while in prison
• Mexican government wants Doukhobor settlers
• Crossword puzzle (above)

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Sometimes reporters confused the Canadian and American groups. Compare the news reports about 'Doukhobors' in Canada (above) to simultaneous news (below) of the mixed Spiritual Christians tribes from Russia in Los Angeles, all mislabeled 'Molokan'.

1929

• Kniga solnste, dukh i zhizn' (Book of the Sun, Spirit and Life) published. A preface was contributed by Dr. Young falsely claiming they were "Molokane" to hide their mystical ecstatic spiritual zealotry which has no origin in Molokan history.
• A spiritual zealot places the new book on the altar tables of several congregations in Los Angeles as a 3rd Testament to the Russian Bible.
• Most of the Spiritual Christian congregations from Russia in Southern California are coerced into using this new book, changing their rites, holidays, songs, prayers to those printed in the Dukh i zhizn', thus forming a new family of faiths best called Dukh-i-zhizniki. 
• The distant Prygun colonies in Baja California, Mexico, did not place this book on their altar table, rather on a shelf, in case any visitor requested it. 

1930

• Leader of Spiritual Christians From Russia in Los Angeles, I.G. Samarin, who coordinated settlement in Mexico, now seeks land in U.S.A. for resettlement.
• "Assimilation Problems of Russian Molokans in Los Angeles", doctoral dissertation by P. V. Young. Young could not find any history about Pryguny, so she falsely changed the group identity to Molokan.
• Profs. Young bring sociologists and lawyers together in conference to deal with problems of Russian sectarian immigrants and youth.
• Mother of 3 Electrocuted. Family history
• Coach for spring-board diving champions Mickey and Johnny, the Galitzen brothers, changed their German-sounding last names to "Riley". Their new names are often on the sports pages.
• Tourist invited to visit Spiritual Christian Prygun colonies near Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

1931

• Lover's suicide, Anna Prohoff, 18, and Pete Makshanoff, 21, drank insecticide.

1932

• Prygun elder who helped lead the migration to Los Angeles and wrote chapter in Dukh i Zhizn', P. M. Shubin, dies.
• Uren sues Pivovaroff for $25,000 in wrongful shooting of his son.
• New book — Pilgrims of Russian Town: The Community of Spiritual Christian Jumpers in America, by Dr. Pauline Young — documents zealous religion and delinquent youth. Young is interviewed in news and gives lectures about these immigrants.
• Sociology department of the University of Southern California expands social work into ethnic groups, including Spiritual Christians from Russia, engaging with students and faculty from other universities.
• Mickey (Galitzen) Riley wins gold medal at Summer Olympics (plaque displayed at Colosseum), and "King Mick" marries woman gold metalist.

Peace Networking Works

As a Doukhobor, I have striven to develop a personal network among people for peace, particularly where I live in Ottawa. I often attend peace events, lectures and meetings with The Society of Friends, Ottawa Peace Festival, Canadian Department of Peace Initiative (CPI), No War/Paix, and other efforts promoting world peace.

In 2007 I was invited to attend the First Global Nonkilling Leadership Forum where I met over 30 participants from 20 countries. I presented my paper: Tolstoy and the Doukhobors and expanded my peace network.

P.V. Rajagopal addressing a panel discussion:
'Mahatma Gandhi Today: In India and the World',
Carleton University, June 23, 2017.

There I met and befriended many like-minded people for peace including Dr. S. Jeyapragasam and P.V. Rajagopal, co-editors of Ahimsa Nonviolence, journal of the International Gandhian Institute for Nonviolence and Peace (IGISP), India. Since then, P.V. has visited Canada where we met again on several occasions. During our conversations he invited me to contribute articles to this international journal.

In the latest issue of Ahimsa Nonviolence (May-August 2017), two of my short articles were published at the beginning and end of the journal.

1. 'What I have learned from peace activism in the world', pages 84-85
   
2. 'Remember peace and nuclear disarmament on "Remembrance Day"', pages 158-159 — Excerpt from my blog post on 13 Nov 2017.

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Comments by email

After I sent the link of the journal (PDF) to my peace network on December 1st, I got 8 replies:

————————————
Dr. S. Jeyapragasam, India

Dear Brother,

I thank you for your email. I admire and appreciate your continued noble work for Peace and Nonviolence. Let us remain in touch. 

With gratitude, regards and prayers.

————————————

Bill Bhaneja, Ottawa, Ontario

Thank you so much for this empowering piece and the work you have been doing all these years holding light to truth and building bridges for peace. It has been a privilege to work side by side over the past decade. Also, wonderful to see after a long time the PDF copy of Ahimsa Nonviolence, your article rightfully deserved the lead in this issue.

In Unity of Peace.

————————————
Hon. Douglas Roche, Edmonton, Alberta

Thank you for sharing your wonderful article, which I read with great appreciation. I am grateful for all you do to keep us focused on the peace issues. 

All the best.

————————————
John and Barb Taylor, Vancouver, British Columbia

Thank you for your many contributions toward peace. I remember you from a Peace and Disarmament conference in Ottawa in the mid-1980s. I was there from Halifax as a member of Voice of Women. Afterwards, you sent me an envelope of photos from the event, which I still have.

I read with interest your article at the beginning of the Ahimsa Nonviolence journal cited below. If we still had our Vancouver WILPF Peacelines journal, I would ask for permission to reprint it. Even more, I appreciated your photo report from the Peace observance of Remembrance Day in Ottawa on Nov. 11, 2017. I was unable to copy and reprint it, so urge all those interested to click on your Spirit Wrestlers website and scroll to the bottom three pages to view it.

Just as Professor Thompson "said that ‘this was the best Remembrance Day’ that he [had] experienced,” I was encouraged by the Peace Poppy campaign in Vancouver last month. For the second year in a row, a ceremony of placing white poppy wreathes, “Let Peace Be Their Memorial,” was held at the Seaforth Peace Park in Vancouver. I had the feeling that afternoon that despite our smaller numbers, we were beginning to turn a corner in more people understanding that “To remember is to end all wars.”

————————————
Ken Bilsky, Ottawa, Ontario

A nice article on peace activism and your efforts: 'Koozma Blinded by the Might...'

Until we change the economic system 180 degrees and have a PUBLIC banking system that respects all life and shares the resources of the earth in a sustainable way with everyone, we will continue to struggle and people will suffer unnecessarily. The Capitalist system is trashing the planet and the US Military Industrial Complex is sending us into more and more wars which could end in a nuclear winter. Canada is lock step with the USA and NATO in beating the war drums and creating more carbon instead of less.

The geo-engineering that has been going on the last 50 years to slow down global warming by spraying our atmosphere is compounding the problem along with the heavy use of carbon based fuels which is driving the drastic climate change chaos. A double edged sword of problems and concern for most life on this planet.

Our oceans have become the sewers of the earth, our ancient forests are less than 5% of all the trees and our ancient grasslands are less than 1% of what they were just a few hundred years ago. The ship hasn't turned around yet. It will take a major change in consciousness and the violence ingrained in our capitalist culture will need to be washed away as our 'Modus operandi' for human conflicts. Along with that we need to treat all life with respect and understanding. The mammals, birds, fish, insects etc, deserve their own space on this planet if we want to keep a diversity of species and the continuation of a healthy life cycle. Instead we are adding more and more toxins into the system and are surprised by the negative effects. We are truly deaf, dumb and blind when it comes to earth management using symbiotic and holistic principals.

I think self ownership is a subject that we have to start debating more along with the need for local autonomy and a respect for freedom to control our own destiny. Patents need to be short and quickly move into the Commons so that everyone can modify, improve, innovate and benefit from new ideas. As we connect the dots, we see that everything we do has an effect and we need to be more aware and mindful of what we are doing to our mother.

Time is short to make such drastic changes and realistically Gaia, born from chaos, is not going anywhere but we definitely are. 

Peace, love and resistance.

————————————
Lawrence Klippenstein, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Thanks very much for your Christmas note on peace and congrats for 60 years of work on it! My involvement may be more like 40 years and not as much writing to show for it. Right now it is has to do with promotion of my book Peace and War and giving verbal encouragement like I am doing now. I am in fact working on a second edition of my book with the CDs and paperbacks I did produce all gone but one of each.

————————————
Miguel Figueroa, Canadian Peace Congress

Thank you very much for sending us this link to your article published in Ahimsa Nonviolence. We appreciate the spirit and passion of your message, and your continuing commitment to the cause of peace.

————————————
Max Zbitnoff, Boston, Massachusetts., USA

Here's to you and your 60+ years of peace making. It has been a pleasure and privilege to know you.   [In 1995, Max created a T-shirt in honour of the Spirit-Wrestlers / Doukhobor arms-burning centenary.]

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Readers may leave comments below.

Russia Trip 2017 by US Citizen Group

'Grass root' Citizen Diplomacy

Since 1984, the Center for Citizen Initiatives has built 1000s of person-to-person bridges between Russia and the USA. Here's what they did this year.

In May 2017 a volunteer delegation of 30 American citizens flew to Moscow to meet Russian citizens. They divided into groups for meetings in 10 locations — Moscow, Volgograd, Kazan (Tatarstan), Krasnodar, Novosibirsk (Siberia), Yekaterinburg; the Crimean cities Simferopol, Yalta and Sevastopol; and gathered in St. Petersburg before returning home.

Link to map

Observations and Facts

• Western sanctions have hurt sectors of Russia’s economy but encouraged agricultural production.
• Some Russian oligarchs are making major infrastructure investments.
• There has been a resurgence of [state] religion in Russia. 
• Russia increasingly looks east. [to China]
• Russia is a capitalist country with a strong state sector.
• There is some nostalgia for the former Soviet Union with its communist ideals.
• There is a range of media supporting both government and opposition parties.
• Public transportation is impressive.
• President Putin is popular.

Russians and Americans meet in Yekaterinburg, June 2015

Current Political Tension

• [Skepticism] about Russian “meddling” in the U.S. election.
• There is a strong desire to improve relations with the U.S.
• Western media reports about Crimea are hugely distorted.
• Russians know and fear war.
• Russians see themselves being threatened.
• Russians want to de-escalate international tensions. [Met with Gorbachev]

Original article

• With links, photos, ads: Russia Looks East, Capitalism with a Strong State Sector. Observations and Impressions from Russia, by Rick Sterling, Global Research, May 31, 2017
• Reposted, without ads: Observations and Impressions from Russia, Center for Citizen Initiatives, San Francisco, June 4, 2017

More

• News about delegation trips to Russia, by Sharon Tennison, Center for Citizen Initiatives
• Why You Should Visit Russia, by David Swanson, WorldBeyondWar.org

Q73: Am I Biased Towards Russia and Putin?

A friend in Ottawa recently asked me (August 17, 2016): ‘As a peace journalist, are you biased towards Russia instead of being objective?’ While starting to write him a reply, I decided to answer the question here, and he wished to not be identified.

"Media bias", Danielle's Journalism Portfolio, March 24, 2015

Answer

No. I prefer to say that I am ‘friendly’ rather than ‘biased’. I understand that because my ancestors immigrated from Russia 117 years ago, some readers may be suspicious of my intentions.

I have a degree in anthropology where I learned that the first step in learning about the stranger is gaining rapport. We need to carefully listen, watch and learn, and gently walk on this earth.

I visited Russia and Europe 13 times since 1957. I feel like a citizen of the world and recognize all people as members of one human family.

My favourite motto is ‘In search of truth and a nonkilling society’ — which pretty well sums up the intent of my storytelling over the years.

‘As a peace journalist’ I have tried to be fair to all sides including Russia and the West — using many sources since the 1950s when I began publishing.

I recognize that propaganda, disinformation, information warfare, lies, fear mongering, etc. are varieties of verbal warfare and are obstacles for reporting the truth.

Because my writing often focuses on facts avoided by western media, I may appear biased to those who don’t know the rest of the story. Some examples:

• No More Hiroshima, No More Wars!, 6 August 2016.
• Russophobia and the Olympics, 31 July 2016.
• Will Business Start a War With Russia?, 6 June 2016.
• Honest World News, 16 February 2016.
• War in Ukraine and NATO, 4 December 2015.
• Ukraine: Zbig’s Grand Chessboard & How the West was Checkmated, 15 August 2015.
• Avoid ‘Cold War’ With Russia — How?, 21 December 2014.
• Writers in Their Society: Soviet and Canadian Writers, March 1989. Posted 20 January 2007.

Other investigative journalists, whom I admire, have also defended Russia, with facts:

• Leupp, Gary. An Urgent Necessary Briefing on Syria. Information Clearing House, October 15, 2016.
• Leupp, Gary. Reaping the whirlwind: Kerry, al-Nusra, Russia and Syria. Counter Punch, October 6, 2016.
• Buchanan, Patrick. ISIS, Not Russia, Is the Enemy in Syria. Information Clearing House, October 7, 2016.
• Hiro, Delip. US Power at the Crossroads: A Snapshot of a Multipolar World in Action. TomDispatch.com, October 11, 2016.
• Cunningham, Finian. Stop Interfering With My Freedom. Strategic Culture, October 13, 2016.
• Watson Institute of International & Public Affairs, Brown University. Costs of War, 2016.
• Garcia, Emanual D. 'The Russians Are Coming...Again?' Intrepid Report, August 29, 2016.
• Pilger, John. 'Provoking Nuclear War by Media'. Transcend Media Service, August 29, 2016.
• Vitchek, Andre. 'Western Propaganda So Simple but So Effective'. New Eastern Outlook, August 29, 2016.
• Softpanorama. 'Neoliberal Brainwashing — Journalism in the Service of the Powerful Few'. Softpanorama, August 2016.
• Unz, Ron. ‘The US Planned to Nuke Russia In the Early 60s —Then Kennedy Nixed It’. Russia News Now, August 19, 2016.
• MarketStart Editor. ‘Barack Obama: From Peace Prize to World’s Biggest Arms Dealer in 8 Short Years’. MarketStart, August 17, 2016.
• Parry, Robert. ‘America’s Journalistic Hypocrites Clearing House’. International Clearing House, August 17, 2016.
• Cartalucci, Tony. ‘New Armenia Protests, Same US-Backed Mobs’. NEO New Eastern Outlook, April 28, 2016.
• Parry, Robert. ‘A Western media unmoored from facts’. Consortium News, April 7, 2016.
• Winter, Tom and Joaquin Flores. 'What you believe if NPR is your news source, and why it matters'. Fort Russ News, August 22, 2016.
• Petro, Nicolai. 'What is the Real Status of Democracy in Russia? An Interview with Professor Nicolai Petro', Natylie's Place blog, October 14, 2019.

Center for Citizen Initiatives speaks up:

Sharon Tennison, founder and head of the Center for Citizen Initiative has posted an article on President Vladimir Putin in how he is using graceful language that is human and friendly and invites people to work together. See Putin: Martial Arts Philosophy in Action. Sharon writes:

'It certainly is putting out a message to the world about the value of a classical man who attempts to be honest, straightforward and leaves doors open for dialogue.'

Ultimately a non-military solution is needed to create a peaceful world. But the first step is good quality diplomacy beginning with compassion within. Let's step back, breathe deeply and normalize the rhetoric and become civil.

Three informative videos:

• Sinchougova, Inessa. How Putin exposed the West: Part 1 (IMF/World Bank). Fort Russ News, September 28, 2016. Video 7.55 minutes.
• Sinchougova, Inessa. How Putin exposed the West: Part 2 (Economic Hitmen). Fort Russ News, October 1, 2016. Video.
• Sinchougova, Inessa. How Putin exposed the West: Part 3 (Georgian Aggression). Fort Russ News, October 2, 2016. Video.

Postscript

Here’s another little known fact that exposes the rest of the story. Though my ancestors came in 1899-1930 with 8,300 Doukhobors from Russia, they were invited to settle western Canada in 1899 primarily to prevent annexation of Canada by the USA.

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See all Questions and Answers.

Honest World News

USA (Uncle Sam) is painting a
picture in your head (propaganda).
Cartoon by Alexey Talimonov

Because many people share articles and websites with me, we decided to screen them and list those we feel are trustworthy. So much biased news is generated by governments and business that it is difficult to know what to trust. There is too much Western presstitute media (intentionally misleadingly news).

Fact-checking journalists are hired to disinfect news, and government use of social media is growing. See research reported by Ryan Androsoff (Feb 18) and Craig Silverman (Feb 10).

Listed below are articles and websites we personally recommend, with independent news from and about world politics and the peace movement. This list is broader and in addition to items posted on Spirit-Wrestlers.com, it will save a lot of emailing. Check for updates. Old stories will be deleted as new ones are posted. Credit is given to contributors. Leave comments below, and send your recommended article links to kjtarasoff@gmail.com.

Articles

• 2015 June 15 — Ukraine and the Apocalyptic Risk of Propagandized Ignorance, by David Swanson, World Beyond War. (KT)
• 2015 April 14 — 'Ukraine: The Truth', by Gary Leupp, CounterPunch. (KT)
• 2015 April 15 — 'Why We Must Return to the US-Russian Parity Principle,' by Stephen F. Cohen, Common Dreams. (KT)
• 2015 April 10 — THE WEST vs RUSSIA (1.5 hour video), Monk Debate, Toronto. "The West should engage not isolate Russia." Pro: Stephen F. Cohen, Vladimir Pozner. Con: Anne Applebaum, Garry Kasparov.
• 2015 March 1 — The Reckless Lies of War Mongers. Why the Rise of Fascism is Again the Issue, by John Pilger, in CounterPunch. (JP)
• 2015 March 25 — What If Web Search Results Were Based On Accuracy?, by Adam Frank, National Public Radio, USA.
• 2015 March 22 — Ukraine – A Creationist Museum? OR Why the West is losing the Information War, by Dr. Ivaylo Grouev, Professor of Political Science, University of Ottawa, ON.
• 2015 February 22—'Interventionism Kills: Post-Coup Ukraine One Year Later.' Ron Paul Institute. (JP)
• 2015 February 22 — Ukraine and Russia: Prospects for Peace, University of Toronto, hosted by Science for Peace, an all-day symposium on the conflict in Ukraine, its background, and potential solutions.
• 2015 Feb 20 — Putin the Improviser, Wall Street Journal. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 18 — Measuring government impact in a social media world, by Arthur Mickoleit & Ryan Androsoff, Digital government policy analysts, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris, France. (RA)
• 2015 Feb 16 — Diagnosis & Prognosis: Assessing the Ukrainian Conflict-Formation from a Peace-Research Perspective, Naakow Grant-Hayford. Transcend Media Service. (KT)
• 2015 Feb 13 — Russia’s rise: Far from being marginalized, Russia is winning friends and trading partners around the world, National Post. (GS)
• 2015 Feb 11 — Edward Snowden Has Been Good for the USA, Forbes. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 10 — Lies, Damn Lies and Viral Content: How news websites spread (and debunk) online rumors, unverified claims, and misinformation, by Craig Silverman, Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Columbia Journalism School, New York, NY. Conference video. (begins at min. 28:30) (AC)
• 2015 Feb 10 — With New Moves, Russia's Parliament Looks To Rewrite History, NPR. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 10 — Wretched US Journalism on Ukraine, Robert Parry. Consortium News.
• 2015 Feb 10 — The French Debate: Free Speech Versus Hate Speech, NPR. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 10 — Ukraine Crisis in Maps: A visual guide to the continuing conflict, New York Times. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 10 — Ukraine Parliament Passes Law Allowing Officers to Shoot Disobedient Troops, Russia Insider. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 9 — After Ukriane, What Comes Next?, The American Interest. (SZ)
• 2015 Feb 7 — Ukrainians Who Are Choosing Not to Kill and Die in Donbass War, Russia Insider. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 7 — Talks in Moscow - a two-part analysis, by Alexander Mercouris, The Vineyard of the Saker. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 5 — U.S. Could Stand To Lose A Lot By Getting Involved In Ukraine, NPR. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 4 — Chomsky And Kissinger Agree: Avoid Historic Tragedy In Ukraine, MintPress News. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 4 — Edward Snowden speaks to Toronto students, urges caution on new terror bill, The Canadian Press. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 4 — US Deliberately Pushing Russia into New Cold War, Says Gorbachev, IBT - International Business Times. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 1 — The Meme of "Russian Aggression", Oliver Tickell. CounterPunch.
• 2015 Jan 30 — US Media Coverage of Ukraine: 'Group Thinking' the World into a New War, Robert Parry. Consortium News. Global Research. (KT)
• 2015 Jan 29 — Translation is New Weapon in Propaganda War, Michele A. Berdy. Moscow Times. (JW)
• 2015 Jan 26 — Russia In The Cross Hairs, Paul Craig Roberts. (KT)
• 2015 Jan 21 — Ukraine shuts down the border to stop the exodus of cannon fodder, Mianews.ru (translated on Fortruss). (JP)
• 2015 Jan 20 — Murdering Journalists… Them and Us, The Anti-Empire Report #136, William Blum. Dissident Voice. (BV)
• 2017 Dec 13 — Media Malpractice Is Criminalizing Better Relations With Russia, The Nation, — Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University, explains how media manufactures 'collusion with the Kremlin'.

News sites

• ActCityOttawa. Weekly news feeds of digileak global and Canada. Focus: social issues, culture, and media. (KT)
• Al Jeezera English. English version of the Arabic-language news network. Breaking news and features plus background material including profiles and global reactions. (LE)
• Awakening the Peacemaker Within — Paul Maillet, Accredited Peace Professional and President of Center for Ethics. (PM)
• Boundary Peace Initiative — Kootenay BC region peace news with special events, archives, articles, and links to other peace sites and videos. A Site of the Canadian Peace Alliance and other groups. (LS)
• Canadaland. A weekly podcast of media watch hosted by Jesse Brown. Old Canada vs. New Canada. (PB)
• Common Dreams — 'Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.' 'Our Mission:
  To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.' (KT)
• CounterPunch. Independent investigative journalism. (KT)
• Emergent — A real-time rumor tracker which rates news stories as : True, Unverifird or False. Founder/Editor: Craig Silverman, journalist-entrepreneur, author and media critic based in Montreal, Canada. (AC)
• Fort Russ — includes other links to Russian TV, Sputnik, Russian Insider, and others. Fort Russ is a team blog of dedicated volunteer translators and analysts, who bring you Russian, as well as Polish, German, French, Greek and Italian translations of the best news, analysis, bloggers and social media pertaining to Russia, Ukraine, former USSR and geopolitical balance in the world today. (IG)
• Global Center for Nonkilling — 'Nonkilling is THE Measure of Human Progress.' Hundreds of respected scholars and activists with wide interdisciplinary experience have compiled an impressive body of knowledge that has uncovered some remarkable conclusions. (KT)
• Global Research — Michel Chossudovsky's website with his own and other non-mainstream articles. The professor does not police everything that's posted there but there's a disclaimer saying that the person who posted it is responsible for the content. Chossudovsky is President and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization. (MH)
• Historians Against War — By historians, teachers and scholars who oppose the expansion of United States empire and the doctrine of pre-emptive war that led to the occupation of Iraq; they deplore the secrecy, deception and distortion of history. (KT)
• Information Clearing House — World News Daily. Not-for-profit — for global justice since 2001. (IG)
• International Peace Bureau — Dedicated to building a world without war. 'Our current main programme centres on Disarmament for Sustainable Development and within this, our focus is mainly on the reallocation of military expenditure. (KT)
• NPR — National Public Radio, USA. Articles and radio broadcasts by independent reporters. (AC)
• Paul Craig Roberts — Institute for Political Economy. Economics professor, writer (10+ books), journalist, USA Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, consultant to Departments of Defense and Commerce. (KT)
• PBS — Public Broadcasting System, USA. Extensive collection of reports, in depth stories, and news. One of the most popular programs is Democracy Now hosted by Amy Goodman. (AC)
• rabble.ca — 'News for the rest of us.' Progressive journalists, writers, artists and activists across the country. A non-profit organization launched in 2001. (KT)
• RT International— Besides 24-hour live TV news, tabs cover News, USA, UK, Russian Politics, Business, Op-Edge (editorials), In vision (photo-journalism), In motion (video), Shows, Bulletin Board, More. Ads are minimal. Founded 2005 by Autonomous Nonprofit Organization 'TV-Novosti.' Check for rumors debunked by StopFake.org (below) (DT)
• Russia Insider — Full news website with tabs covering Politics, Business, Culture, TV, Media, special Topics and editorials in the 'Bullpen'. Founded by an American editor Charles Bausman in Moscow in 2014. (DT)
• StopFake.org — Struggle against fake information about events in Ukraine, in Russian and English. Launched March 2, 2014 by alumni and students of Mohyla School of Journalism and of the Digital Future of Journalism. Does not represent or support any political party or other organization. (AC)
• Storyful blog— Professional news company that discovers, verifies and acquires social media for newsrooms, brands and video producers. The free blog offers tips and story research examples. (AC)
• Tom Dispatch — Launched 2001, then a project of The Nation Institute as 'a regular antidote to the mainstream media .... to offer a clearer sense of how this imperial globe of ours actually works.' (KT)
• TRANSCEND Media Service — 'Solutions-Oriented Peace Journalism' founded 2008. Edited by Antonio C.S. Rosa. Features a free course: 'Study Peace Online.' Non-profit, open-source, research, articles, video, global perspective. It is part of Transcend International founded in 1993 by Johan Galtung and Fumiko Nishimora as a conflict mediation organization. (KT)
• The Duran — Does news, commentary, audio and video. News and smart analysis on everything you need to know. (KT)
• The Intercept — Launched in February 2014 by First Look Media 'to produce fearless, adversarial journalism across a wide range of issues.' (PB)
• The Tyee — Award winning long-form journalism since 2003. Reviews British Columbia and Canada's mainstream media for stories and solutions big media ignores. (KT)
• Vice News — Global news, 35 Bureaus around the world where Vice broadcasts in-depth documentaries about current topics. Founded in December 2013 as a division of Vice Media, which has 5 percent funding from Rupert Murdoch's corporation. (LE)
• World Beyond War — A global movement to end all wars. Tabs for Myths, Why, How, Videos, Sign Pledge, Donate, Maps. (KT)

Contributors

• RA — Ryan Androsoff, Paris, France.
• PB — Peter Biesterfeld, Toronto, ON.
• AC — Andrei Conovaloff, Arizona, USA.
• LE — Larry Ewashen, Creston, BC.
• IG — Ivaylo Grouev, Ottawa, ON.
• MH — Mary-Sue Haliburton, Ottawa, ON.
• PM — Paul Maillet, Ottawa, ON.
• JP — Dmitri (Jim) Popoff, Grand Forks, BC.
• LS — Laura Savinkoff, Grand Forks, BC.
• GS — Gunter Schaarschmidt, Victoria, BC.
• DT — Don Tarasoff, Victoria, BC.
• KT — Koozma J. Tarasoff, Ottawa, ON.
• BV — Barry Verigin, Grand Forks, BC.
• JW —John W. Woodsworth, Ottawa, ON.
• SZ — Sergei Zhuk, Indiana, USA.

Return of ‘4 gods-within us’

In December 2013, four friends, kindred souls, met together for coffee in downtown Ottawa, resulting in a blog ‘4 For Coffee: a meeting of 4 gods-within us’. Today, November 18th, 2014, the four of us met again with new insights into human behaviour from the personal to the world order. See all my meeting reports.


We 4 are: Bill Bhaneja, a retired political scientist, Ottawa, playwright and author of Quest for Gandhi — A Nonkilling Journey (2010), and Troubled Pilgrimage: Passage to Pakistan (2013); Mony Dojeiji and Alberto Agraso, co-authors of Walking for Peace — an inner journey (2013), and I Am Happy (2013); and me, Koozma J. Tarasoff.

The common ground of the four ‘gods-within us’ is the spirit of love that permeates our lives and gives us meaning as individuals and as a human species. This spirit within gives us optimism to act as Gods within the confines of a friendly planet. Our intention is to act with passion, but equally to be socially responsible for our actions.

Highlights of what we discussed for 2 hours:

• Mildred L. Norman — Peace Pilgrim (1908-1981), who walked 25,000 miles for peace from 1953 to 1981, spoke about peace among nations, groups, individuals, and the very important inner peace — because that is where peace begins. Her life and work showed that one person with inner peace can make a significant contribution to world peace.
       Both the inner and outer voice were affected by whether we were driven by ego or by our conscience. She said that she began to realize that it was as though we had two selves or two natures or two wills with two different viewpoints. Because the viewpoints were so different, there was a struggle in our lives between the two selves; ultimately it took her 15 years to understand the real meaning of life. It was a challenge and a treat to observe and act from an egoless viewpoint.
       In her search for meaning in life, Peace Pilgrim expressed a need to deal with the world situation today. ‘… Certainly all present wars must cease. Obviously, we need to find a way to lay down our arms together. We need to set up mechanisms to avoid physical violence in a world where psychological violence still exists. All nations need to give up one right to the United Nations — the right to make war….We need a Peace Department in our national government to do extensive research on peaceful ways of resolving conflicts. Then we can ask other countries to create similar departments’ (Steps Toward Inner Peace, pages 31-32).
• Gandhi — We explored the question of how inner peace could be achieved. Mahatma Gandhi in An Autobiography: The Story of my Experiments with Truth, worked towards two spiritual principles to attain inner peace — this is similar to what Peace Pilgrim sought. Gandhi describes these principles as Aparigraha (non-possession) (An Autobiography.., page 276) and Sambhava (equability). (Bhaneja, Quest for Gandhi, pages 101, 104, 105.) Once you work towards those principles you start understanding the meaning of following Vedantic prayer for inner peace:
             O'Lord lead me from Distinction to Distinctionlessness;
             O'Lord lead me from Ego to Egolessness;
             O'Lord lead me from Desire to Desirelessness.
  This understanding leads us to the notion that we are children of the same God, the same common humanity, and the same divine. We also start understanding Gandhi's message that there is no 'other', no enemy. Gandhi used to remark: 'Hate the Sin, not the Sinner' (Bhaneja, Quest for Gandhi, page105.).
• Brotherhood — Real citizenship ought to embrace the world. We are all members of the human family. This means that Stephen Harper (Prime Minister of Canada) is as much a brother as is Vladimir Putin (President of the Russian Federation). Members of ISIS are our brothers, too, even though we do not support their violent behaviour. When we label and dehumanize these individuals, it becomes difficult to see them as capable of change, of thinking and acting in different ways. Our anger or frustration at their actions can influence our capacity to see them as human beings too. 
• Propaganda — Politics on the other hand has been driven by power and control where ego gets an upper hand over conscience; when noble ideals and human rights enshrined in Constitutions are often violated and compromised especially for economic gain. Historically fear and labeling have been used as one of many techniques of propaganda for crowd control. Politicians have often used these mechanisms underhandedly as a way to hijack the population without respecting the rights of citizens to share their legitimate ideas. Let’s be careful how we use the word ‘terrorism’. As well, we need to be aware of corporate groups such as ISIS (the so-called 'Islamic State') which spreads fear designed to hijack vulnerable populations for their own purposes. The same happens even in democracies, where fear is used to create division among the populace and hence justify actions.
• War — During the Nuremberg trial after WWII, Hermann Goering, Hitler's second in command, said in his cell to the prison psychologist:
       ‘Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country’ (Bold added). (Gilbert, G.M. Nuremberg Diary, 1995: 278).
• Truth — Words used carefully can become so powerful that they literally fly around the world and influence social policy. What do such words as the following mean: ‘democracy’, ‘peace’, ‘nonviolence’, ‘nonkilling’, ‘spirituality’, and ‘compassionate city’? But when these and other words become mere labels, become routinized and institutionalized, they can betray us and lose the original meaning. Remember that the first casualty of war is information. Journalists should strive for accuracy and avoid spreading untruths.
• Our Behaviour — Wisdom people such as Aristotle have urged us that there needs to be a balance between the head and the heart. This is what conscience is about. Ultimately, it is our behaviour that makes the difference. Or as my Doukhobor ancestors used to say: Бог да Бог, но ты не буть плох (You can speak all you like about God, but behave yourself. Literally: God yes God, but don’t you be bad.).

References

• Peace Pilgrim [Mildred Lisette Norman]. Steps Toward Inner Peace. Harmonious Principles for Human Living. 32-page booklet available free in 30 languages online and in print.
• Peace Pilgrim. Her Life and Work in Her Own Words. Compiled by some of her friends. Published by Friends of Peace Pilgrim, 1982, 1991. Download free pdf file. Available in eight languages. See a one hour documentary on YouTube: Peace Pilgrim: An American Sage Who Walked Her Talk (2002).
• Mahatma Gandhi. An Autobiography: The Story of my Experiments with Truth, Wikipedia summary. Google Book, 1993 (partial view). Complete book 1927, MKGandhi.org.