Nuadha's Tale

Ignorance can be tolerated, where reason is left free to combat it. -Thomas Jefferson

Thursday, February 27, 2003

Government Approved Content?
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-986225.html

Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Zelda Quiz

Congrats! You're the Hero of Time! You have a strong sense of justice and go out of your way to right a wrong. You are very patient and treat everyone with respect...no matter how much they annoy you. It's obvious you can hold your own in a fight, but because of your quiet nature, people tend to underestimate you.

Take the Which OoT Character are You? Quiz!

Tuesday, February 25, 2003

A Brief History of the Fourth World (continued)
Part Three: Rebirth
The world of the old gods was split in halves, two giant molten bodies spinning slow and barren. These worlds were clean of all that had gone before, adrift in the fading sounds of cosmic thunder. The two worlds would become a home for the new gods to rise up, grow and achieve powers to move the universe in new ways. New Genesis would become a beautiful paradise, while her dark sister planet Apokolips would grow up in her shadow, lit only by the functional light of the fire pits.

Part Four: The War of the New Gods
Time passed and eventually the inhabitants of Apokolips looked to New Genesis and remembered and the old hatred...the hatred of the old gods. During the reign of Queen Heggra of Apokolips a hunting party from Apokolips landed on New Genesis, led by the queen's brother Steppenwolf. They came across Izayah, the Inheritor and his lover Aria. A fight ensued and Steppenwolf killed Aria before the hunting. Darkseid, Steppenwolf's nephew and son of Heggra, defeated Izayah but Izayah miraculously survived.

A war broke out between the two worlds that would last for decades and leave the two worlds in ruins. Izayah led the forces of New Genesis, until he finally met Steppenwolf in battle. The two clashed and Izayah won, killing his hated foe. Even this did not bring Izayah peace. Wandering across the ruins of New Genesis and seeing the carnage caused by the war, Izayah grieved. He tore off his armor and through down his battlestaff. "If I am to be the inheritor, what is to be inheritance!?" he cried. It is then that The Source was revealed to Izayah. Izayah would return to his people under a new name, Highfather and lead teh people of New Genesis with the wisdom of the Source.

Part Five: The Pact
Highfather taught the people of New Genesis the way of peace but there was still a war to end. He met with Darkseid, who after the mysterious death of Queen Heggra had become the new Lord of Apokolips and negotiated for peace. A deal was made and to seal the pact, the two leaders swapped their infant sons. Highfather's son would be raised in the infamous orphanage of Granny Goodness, while Darkseid's son would be raised by the gods of New Genesis.

More to come.....

Monday, February 24, 2003

Castlevania News
This makes me very happy. A new Castlevania game is coming to the PS2.

How to Deal with Dissenters
Please excuse me while I go into conspiracy theory-mode....

So, let's say that you've already set it up that you can declare anyone you want a terrorist and put them away in jail without the right to fair and speedy trial by declaring them "enemy combatants." Of course, there is the pesky problem that most Americans are only thinking that your "war on terrorism" is only on arabs and the first time you make some white non-islam guy disappear because he is asking difficult questions that you would rather people not think about, they may realize what your "war on terrorism" is really about. So, how do you make people paranoid enough that they'll look the other way when you start rounding up anybody who questions your authority, the glories of capitalism or the American right to invade whoever the hell they want? You give them a new bogey-man to worry about. Remind them of of those "lone terrorists" that look like us. Peace Activist getting too loud? Tell the world you found a copy of the Anarchist's Cookbook in his basement and make him disappear.

Sunday, February 23, 2003

Ambercon
I just submitted my game selections. As in the previous years, I had one slot where there were several games I wanted to play in. This time it was the first slot.

Last year, I was disappointed when I didn't get into JS's "Enigma Society." I was all set to play "Doc" Holliday. I did a whole bunch of reading about the historical Doc and thought about how I'd play him. Unfortunately, I didn't give it first priority and didn't get in.

This year, there are a whole bunch of games in that slot I want to play in. KG's "Knights and Pawns" sounds great and she says it is more of a political game. I've tried running political games myself with little success and I know they are hard to pull off. I would love to play in a succesful one and I have a feeling Kristen can run one. There is also "Twilight of the Superheroes," which my regular readers and friends should need little explanation as to why I want in it. Finally, there is John's "Enigma Society Re-visited." A year later, it still sound good but I've since realized that I can play in "Doc" in other games by changing his illness and name. (I based Conrad Gareth off of him and played him in last year's "Big Trouble in Little Shadow" and have since used him in Bete Noir.) There were other games in this slot two, but I decided to put these three down in that order. I'm sure that making John's game my third choice has given me little chance of playing in it, but there were too may good choices.

Zelazny and the King
For all my friends out there who are fans of Roger Zelazny:

I was doing some web surfing, looking for Jack Kirby art to use for my "New Gods" game, and I found this page. It's a bunch of concept art Jack "King" Kirby did for a proposed movie based on Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light. I've been wanting to read Lord of Light for sometime now and after seeing this art, I want to read this book even more.

Thursday, February 20, 2003

The New Gods: A History of the Fourth World
I need to write up a history of the world for my players in "The New Gods." I was thinking I would share what I have so far.

Part One: Creation
In the beginning there was Chaos, a swirling vortex of creative energy. Then, came life...the power of creation...the choice of being... and so the world of the old gods came to be. The Motherworld was immense in size and contained all of the possibilities of creation. Through the power of the Source and the Life Equation, anything was possible.

Part Two: War!
Even with all of creation at their command, there were those of the old gods who craved more. They craved even more power, the power to impose their will upon others, the power of Anti-life. They stole away that power and with it the world took it's first step towards destruction. A war broke out. Dragons and titanic war machines clashed across the world. The noble perished, locked in battle with an incalculable evil. The final moment came with the fatal release of an indescribable power which tore the home of the old gods asunder and filled the universe with the blinding flash of its destruction.

Part Three: Rebirth
The world of the old gods perished and two new worlds were left in its place: bright New Genesis and her dark sister world Apokolips. Eventually life returned to these planets and a race of new gods rose up.

to be continued...

Gallows Humor
From a mailing list I'm on:
On a propaganda tour through the United States President George Bush visits a school and explains his political actions. Afterwards he invites the children to ask him questions. Little Bob rises to speak: Mr. President, I have got three questions to ask:

1. How did you win the election although you had less votes than Gore?

2. Why do you want to attack the Iraq without reason?

3. Don't you think that the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima was the biggest
terrorist attack of all times?

Just in that moment the bell for the break rings and the children run out of the classroom When they come back from the break President Bush encourages them again to ask questions. This time Joey rises to speak:Mr. President, I have got five questions to ask:

1. How did you win the election although you had less votes than Gore?

2. Why do you want to attack the Iraq without reason?

3. Don't you think that the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima was the biggest
terrorist attack of all times?

4. Why did the bell ring 20 minutes earlier today?

5. Where is Bob???

I thought I had mono once. It ends up I was just bored.
-Michael Myers as Wayne in Wayne's World

I've been a little under the weather since Sunday. Sunday, I had a horrible sinus headache and ever since then I've felt tired, very tired.

WISH: Unconventional Characters
Do you prefer to build a character with a unique concept, or do you prefer a simple or more standard concept to start with? Do you find that your preference correlates with a preference for elaborate initial backgrounds or with background development in play? If you’re a GM, do you find unique-concept characters easy or hard to GM for? What about playing alongside them?

Back in my early days of gaming, I had a friend who always came up with the most bizarre concepts he could. The GM (usually me) would tell him what the setting was and what kind of characters would be fitting and he would immediately come up with a concept that didn't seem to fit at all.

I loved it. He would always challenge me as GM to redefine my image of the campaign and it always kept things interesting. For example, I started a GURPS: Fantasy game based off a setting I came up with. The setting had "flintlock-era" technology. My friend's reaction: "I want to play a Gunslinger." I explained to him that revolvers didn't exist and that flintlock pistols were horribly innacurate and only really good at close range. He still wanted this gunslinger.

Just when I was about to tell him to find another idea, I thought of something to add to the world, an order of magicians called runeslingers who used special guns like revolvers that fired magical bullets made out of rare "runestones." The character was made and it had a built in limitation to the usefulness of the gun because the stones were so expensive and rare AND the runeslinger would have to craft them into bullets and do an individual ritual for each bullet.

The order of runeslingers added to the world background and made the world a little more interesting.

Still, at times my friend could also be a real pain. It was a trade-off.

I like playing unconventional characters. It makes things interesting. It takes what could be a straightforward game and turns it in its ear a little. A good character can challenge genre stereotypes and add a little more flavor to the world.

In Champions, I pride myself that I have never played a traditional superhero-type. I've played an ex-supervillian trying to make good, an immortal Samurai and a teenage girl wo doesn't want anything to do with the whole "superhero nonsense." The closest I've come to playing a traditional superhero-type has been in...Amber. In JS's AFDS game, I play Griffin, a Knight of Amber that is basically Superman. His personal shadow is a superhero world and he generally sees the world in black and white. He's a big, strong guy with some pretty amazing powers who just wants to "do the right thing."

I like to think that in both games I've added an original element. Maybe, I just annoyed everyone. I don't know, but my friend always did a mixture of both.

Friday, February 14, 2003

Comp II
I got my first paper back. I didn't like how it turned out at all and I was expecting the worst. I got an A.

Our next paper has to be "a visual argument" where we analyze an image and what it says about the topic. I chose this image. It is the cover to one of the recent issues of The Spectre.

Wednesday, February 12, 2003

Am I Evil?


How evil are you?

Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Things to do before Ambercon
A GM's checklist
Sign up for games.
Wait for player lists.
Find Pictures of NPCs for Morpheus Interrupted
Read "Philosophy of the Matrix" for Morpheus inspiration
Type up Matrix rules for the ADRPG and post on web.
Rewatch Matrix and Farscape shortly before con to get character voices for Morpheus, Neo and Rygel
Buy and watch The Animatrix for more inspiration
Find pictures for PCs and NPCs of New Gods
Write up player information cards for LARP
Find a funky suit and wig for a Gary Flinger costume
Tape and watch some episodes of Jerry Springer
Find pictures for PCs and NPCs of Dreaming City game.
Watch some good mafia movies for Dreaming City inspiration. (If anybody has some recommendations, email me.)



Sunday, February 09, 2003

Yet another reason to hate Comcast
The progressive has some information on the anti-war ad that was supposed to air during the state of the union address on CNN and was pulled at the last second by Comcast. The article is here.

Saturday, February 08, 2003

Some Phone Numbers
Want to tell someone what you think?

MI Rep. John Dingell: 313-278-2936
MI Senator Carl Levin: 313-226-6020; 202-224-6221; email: senator@levin.senate.gov
MI Senator Debbie Stabenow: 313-961-4330; 202-224-4822; email: senator@stabenow.senate.gov
White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111
Congressional Switchboard: 800-839-5276
Attorney General John Ashcroft: 202-353-1555

Patriot Act 2
(also known as the Bill or Rights Nullification Act 2)

Ashcroft is at it again. The Justice Dept. is preparing another proposal that will expand on the powers given to it by the Patriot Act and further destroy the notion of a free society. The proposal is available here. Here are some highlights:


  • Section 201, "Prohibition of Disclosure of Terrorism Investigation Detainee Information": Makes it legal for the Justice Dept. to withhold information requested under the freedom of information act and continue to keep secret information regarding the detainees, men and women that are currently being held without being accused of any crime.

  • Section 202, "Distribution of 'Worst Case Scenario' Information": Allows chemical companies to withhold information regarding the dangers that the chemicals they develop present to communities---the "worst case scenario" information. They are currently required to supply this information to the EPA.

  • Section 312, "Appropriate Remedies with Respect to Law Enforcement Surveillance Activities": Allows police more freedom to spy on American citizens.

  • Section 501, "Expatriation of Terrorists": Allows the Justice Dept. to expatriate citizens ""if, with
    the intent to relinquish his nationality, he becomes a member of, or provides material support to, a group that the United Stated has designated as a 'terrorist organization'." Along with the Patriot Act, this would allow Ashcroft to ship off anyone who dissents, just by declaring their organization "a terrorist organization." (Remember- the Justice Department can name almost any group they want a terrorist organization. They got that ability in the first Patriot Act and it's extremely loose definition of terrorists.) Previously, an american citizen would have to state his wish to relinquish his or her citizenship, this Act would allow the courts decide whether he or she "intended" to relinquish citizenship.


I recently read a book of speeches given by Eugene V. Debs, a former presidential candidate and peace activist that went to jail for his anti-war views during the first world war. This man commited no crime but to exercise his right to free speech. The government has a long history of ignoring the rights of dissenters when they are preparing the public for war. They spied on and harrased Martin Luther King Jr. during the Vietnam War. Can we trust them with these powers once it is made legal for them? They won't use it to fight terrorism as much as they will use it to fight dissent.


Peace Rally
I went to the peace rally in Ann Arbor this morning. I thought there had been a lot of people at the1/18 rally, but this one put it to shame. It makes a big difference when the rally isn't the same day as rallies in cities all over the country, but I don't think that was the only change today. There was a lot more youth involved this time... a lot. There were people of all ages but this time I saw a lot of high-school age kids, as well as the college students and adults. The peace sign was pulled off. I suspect that the pictures will be on the AAACP website later today.

Friday, February 07, 2003

World's Largest Peace Sign
From the AAACP mailing list:

As part of Ann Arbor's Peace Parade on Saturday, participants will be
forming
what is believed to be the largest human peace sign ever. Research done
in the
library and on the Internet has turned up a human peace sign that was
formed in
Washington, DC on October 26, 2002
(link).
The sign
in Washington had "several hundred" people in it, according to the
organizers,
and the photo appears to support that number. In Ann Arbor, a sign 240
feet in
diameter composed of over 1000 people will be attempted. It will form
on the
"diag," or central square, on the campus of the University of Michigan,
and
will incorporate the American Flag in its base. It will be oriented
towards the
north, as this will give the greatest visibility to the aerial
photographer.
March monitors will attempt to guide marchers into the peace sign
pattern as
people file into the Diag. Your cooperation is needed. Photos of the
peace
sign, along with a count of the people in it, will be posted on the
website of
the Ann Arbor Area Committee for Peace (justpeaceinfo.org) and made
available
to the media.
 
Saturday's peace march is sponsored by the AAACP and the University of
Michigan's Anti-War Action! student group. The march is expected to at
least
double the 1000-person turnout of Ann Arbor's last big rally in
October. People
interested in taking part should come to the Federal Building at the
corner of
Liberty and Fifth Avenue at 12 noon. Feeder marches from various
locations will
begin earlier. The peace sign is expected to start forming at about
12:30 and
will likely break up before 1 PM.

It reminds me of that old tv commercial. Very cool.

Thursday, February 06, 2003

On a lighter note: On matters Morpheus
I figured out a way a system for how to gage the matrix "stunts" character can do (slowing time, leaping across buildings, etc.) in the Morpheus Calling and Morpheus Interrupted games: Focus Points. Characters can build focus points up beyond there normal limit by taking time to prepare and certain stunts take certain levels. Without preperation, a character normally has three to five points depending on Psyche and whether a character has the "Matrix Initiate" or "Matrix Mastery" abilities. Most stunts performed in the first movie would require two points. From what I've seen of the next movie in the trailers, it looks like Neo's going far beyond three points in the next movie.

Another Rambling Post
It has taken me a few days to understand my reaction to the Columbia. I heard about it in the car Saturday morning as I went to the store. I listened passively as the NPR host interviewed a guy about what may have caused it and whether it could have been prevented. I didn't know what he was talking about at first, but as I understood, I realized something that shocked me. I wasn't upset. Sure, it was horrible thing to happen, but I wasn't as upset as I would have expected to be.

When the Challenger blew up, I was in elementary school. I was in a club at the time called "The Young Astronauts" and I had pictures of the space shuttles tacked all over my walls. I wanted nothing more than to go to Space. I figured that I would be working in space at this age...or at least vacationing there. The Challenger explosion devestated me. Then, it got worse. They cancelled launches for a long time and my dreams of space stations and moon colonies by the year 2000 seemed more like a dream.

I still believe in the space program. It is extremely important that the human race get their butts off the planet so the environment can heal itself. The experiments with the shuttle are leading us there by practicing building self-contained environments and finding scientific uses for space which will in turn prove to big business (aka- the ruling class) that space can be profitable and therefore worth their investment. It's sad that we need to prove that space is has profitable applications but until the system changes, the space program will never get the money that things like defense does. (Defense spending and research is very profitable. We create new weapons that are used to secure American business interests and everyone else starts buying the new weapons from our companies in order to keep up.)

So, what changed? Why do I feel so apathetic about this tragedy? Part of it is 9/11. After seeing the media and merchandising blitz that followed the 9/11 tragedy, I've become defensive. After 9/11 I, like a lot of people, had nightmares. They were partially the part of the horror of the incident but they were also partly because of the fact that my senses were bombarded each day by images, reminding me of how scared and horrified I was supposed to be.

So, I haven't watched the tv news in the last week. I haven't read the articles. I don't want to see it. This comes from the guy that still has the publicity photos of the Columbia in a box. These photos were sent to me by NASA when I was nine and wrote them a letter. These photos were pinned to the wall of my room for most of my youth. I still have them. I can't give them away, nut I don't want to hear about how it ended.

Another part of me is dead to sorrow. I don't mourn any more. I did after 9/11 and the Afghanistan invasion/massacre. What good did it do anyone? Now, I get mad. I try to become more active and prevent future tragedies. Nothing can be done to save those astronauts now, just as nothing can save the children who died in Afghanistan by American-made bombs or the children who have been dying daily in Iraq since the trade sanctions began. If I felt the horror and tragedy of all these events like I did on September 11th or back in 1986, I'd never function. People are dying all over the world and many of them are suffering far more than the Columbia astronauts. Suffering is everewhere. It's in the news every day. Sometimes it's there staring you in the face. Other times it's hidden between the lines as you read about budget cuts to health care or the latest store closing by K-Mart. There is suffering. What can I do?

At least the Columbia astronauts got tolive as long as they did. How many children will die if Bush goes ahead with his battle plans and lays waste to Baghdad? How many children live in Baghdad? Does anyone know how many children will die and never have a chance to become astronauts...or poets...or anything else?

They were heroes and my best wishes go to their families. My best wishes also go to the families all over the world who have recently lost loved ones unexpectedly, no matter how they died. I don't love those other people less just because they weren't one of the chosen few who went to space.

For those of you who are grieving: How to honor the Columbia crew? Fight for a change. Write letters to your representatives in congress. They were still using the same equipment that I lovingly dreamed about 20-some years ago. In a world where technology develops as quickly as it does, the space program deserves the budget to make space flight safer. We need to work to get some of America's massive war budget towards things like Science, Space Exploration and Education. There is no reason we couldn't already have a colony on the moon. If only NASA had the money....

What do you think? Am I cold and heartless? Feel free to email me at Nuadha_Silverhand at yahoo dot com.


Oh, and if they want any civilian volunteers for the next mission to space, I want NASA to email me. Even with the outdated equipment, I would take the chance in a second. To see the Earth from orbit just once or to experience weightlessness, I would gladly gamble my life....and if I were to die on reentry, I'd die a happy man knowing that I experienced it. It wouldn't be dying early. To paraphrase Neil Gaiman, "We all get the same amount of time, one lifetime."

Quiz Time!
Catchin' up on blog reading....






which art movement are you?

this quiz was made by Caitlin

(Via Arref)

I'm Grumpy

Grumpy Bear, you're not a very happy person. You
can be not very nice sometimes.


Which Care Bear Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
(Via Patrick and Jarrod)

I question the validity of this test.

Tuesday, February 04, 2003

Internet Fun!
Hey kids! Here's a fun experiment you can try at home! Just put the following line into Google's search window:

"genuine leadership" "Contrary to the class warfare rhetoric"

Now see all the virtually identical letters to the editor, in papers across the country, supposedly from different people, hailing Bush's economic plan for its benefits to the middle class. What an amazing coincidence that they all independently wrote the same letter!

Monty Python's Terry Jones
I'm not sure if this is really by Terry Jones. It was on a mailing list I subscribe to, but I couldn't find it in the Observer's archive. I did, however, find other articles by Jones.

I'm losing patience with my neighbours, Mr Bush
Terry Jones
Sunday January 26, 2003
The Observer

I'm really excited by George Bush's latest reason for bombing Iraq: he's running out of patience. And so am I! For some time now I've been really pissed off with Mr Johnson, who lives a couple of doors down the street. Well, him and Mr Patel, who runs the health food shop. They both give me queer looks, and I'm sure Mr Johnson is planning something nasty for me, but so far I haven't been able to discover what. I've been round to his place a few times to see what he's up to, but he's got everything well hidden. That's how devious he is.

As for Mr Patel, don't ask me how I know, I just know - from very good sources - that he is, in reality, a Mass Murderer. I have leafleted the street telling them that if we don't act first, he'll pick us off one by one.

Some of my neighbours say, if I've got proof, why don't I go to the police? But that's simply ridiculous. The police will say that they need evidence of a crime with which to charge my neighbours.

They'll come up with endless red tape and quibbling about the rights and wrongs of a pre-emptive strike and all the while Mr Johnson will be finalising his plans to do terrible things to me, while Mr Patel will be secretly murdering people. Since I'm the only one in the street with a decent range of automatic firearms, I reckon it's up to me to keep the peace. But until recently that's been a little difficult. Now, however, George W. Bush has made it clear that all I need to do is run out of patience, and then I can wade in and do whatever I want!

And let's face it, Mr Bush's carefully thought-out policy towards Iraq is the only way to bring about international peace and security. The one certain way to stop Muslim fundamentalist suicide bombers targeting the US or the UK is to bomb a few Muslim countries that have never threatened us.

That's why I want to blow up Mr Johnson's garage and kill his wife and children. Strike first! That'll teach him a lesson. Then he'll leave us in peace and stop peering at me in that totally unacceptable way.

Mr Bush makes it clear that all he needs to know before bombing Iraq is that Saddam is a really nasty man and that he has weapons of mass destruction - even if no one can find them. I'm certain I've just as much justification for killing Mr Johnson's wife and children as Mr Bush has for bombing Iraq.

Mr Bush's long-term aim is to make the world a safer place by eliminating 'rogue states' and 'terrorism'. It's such a clever long-term aim because how can you ever know when you've achieved it? How will Mr Bush know when he's wiped out all terrorists? When every single terrorist is dead? But then a terrorist is only a terrorist once he's committed an act of terror. What about would-be terrorists? These are the ones you really want to eliminate, since most of the known terrorists, being suicide bombers, have already eliminated themselves.

Perhaps Mr Bush needs to wipe out everyone who could possibly be a future terrorist? Maybe he can't be sure he's achieved his objective until every Muslim fundamentalist is dead? But then some moderate Muslims might convert to fundamentalism. Maybe the only really safe thing to do would be for Mr Bush to eliminate all Muslims?

It's the same in my street. Mr Johnson and Mr Patel are just the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of other people in the street who I don't like and who - quite frankly - look at me in odd ways. No one will be really safe until I've wiped them all out.

My wife says I might be going too far but I tell her I'm simply using the same logic as the President of the United States. That shuts her up.

Like Mr Bush, I've run out of patience, and if that's a good enough reason for the President, it's good enough for me. I'm going to give the whole street two weeks - no, 10 days - to come out in the open and hand over all aliens and interplanetary hijackers, galactic outlaws and interstellar terrorist masterminds, and if they don't hand them over nicely and say 'Thank you', I'm going to bomb the entire street to kingdom come.

It's just as sane as what George W. Bush is proposing - and, in contrast to what he's intending, my policy will destroy only one street.


Here is his thoughts on how to apply Bush-think to the problems in Ireland.

Saturday, February 01, 2003

Rice for Peace
I checked Snopes and they are still researching wether the "Rice for Peace campaign really influenced Eisenhower.

Anybody know if this is true?
I got this in my email:

Resistance with a history of success--from the
Mennonite community

Place 1/2 c. uncooked rice in a small plastic bag (a
snack-sized bag or sandwich bag work fine). Squeeze
out excess air and seal the bag. Wrap it in a piece of
paper on which you have written: " 'If your enemies
are hungry, feed them.' Romans 12:20 Please send this
rice to the people of Iraq; do not attack them."

Place the paper and bag of rice in an envelope (either
a letter-sized or small padded mailing envelope - both
are the same cost to mail) and address them to:

President George Bush
White House - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500

Attach $1.06 in postage. (Three 37 cent stamps equal
$1.11)

Drop this in the mail TODAY. It is important to act
NOW so that President Bush gets the letters asap. In
order for this protest to be effective, there must be
hundreds of thousands of such rice deliveries to the
White House. We can do this if we all forward this
message to our friends and family. If every Mennonite
and every Church of the Brethren household sent one of
these, and the tens of thousands of persons from
outside these churches who think war is a mistake also
send them...we are hundreds of thousands of people!
There is a positive history of this protest! Read on!

"In the mid 1950s, the pacifist Fellowship of
Reconciliation, learning of famine in the Chinese
mainland, launched a "Feed Thine Enemy" campaign.
Members and friends mailed thousands of little bags of
rice to the White House with a tag quoting the Bible,
"If thine enemy hunger, feed him." As far as anyone
knew for more than ten years, the campaign was an
abject failure. The President did not acknowledge
receipt of the bags publicly; certainly no rice was
ever sent to China. "What nonviolent activists only
learned a decade later was that the campaign played a
significant, perhaps even determining role in
preventing nuclear war. Twice while the campaign was
on, President Eisenhower met with the Joint Chiefs of
Staff to consider US options in the conflict with
China over two islands, Quemoy and Matsu. The generals
twice recommended the use of nuclear weapons.
President Eisenhower each time turned to his aide and
asked how many little bags of rice had come in. When
told they numbered in the tens of thousands,
Eisenhower told the generals that as long as so many
Americans were expressing active interest in having
the US feed the Chinese, he certainly wasn't going to
consider using nuclear weapons against them."

From: People Power: Applying Nonviolence Theory by
David H. Albert, p. 43, New Society, 19.

Thank you all for being people of hope, people of
faith.

So often I get emails like this that quote historical "facts" that are completely bogus. I'd like to believe this, so if anyone can verify this, please email me at Nuadha_Silverhand at yahoo dot com.