Welcome to Online With Bob!
Thanks for visiting OnlineWithBob.com. When Bob started writing over six years ago he was a community columnist
for Our Times, the local section of the Los Angeles Times serving Montebello, Pico Rivera and Whittier. Bob's writing
turned into more than just a weekly column, it became a way for him to connect with community members. Online with
Bob provides the time and space to reflect on issues that affect us all.
Dear Readers,
In the near future many of the new writings will be unedited and be more of a blog type presentation in order to keep
up with current events.
Peace,
Bob
Thanks for visiting OnlineWithBob.com. When Bob started writing over six years ago he was a community columnist
for Our Times, the local section of the Los Angeles Times serving Montebello, Pico Rivera and Whittier. Bob's writing
turned into more than just a weekly column, it became a way for him to connect with community members. Online with
Bob provides the time and space to reflect on issues that affect us all.
Dear Readers,
In the near future many of the new writings will be unedited and be more of a blog type presentation in order to keep
up with current events.
Peace,
Bob
Other Recent Articles
Most Recent Article
January 26, 2010
Bob's Acceptance Speech for the Nobel Peace Prize:
The Echo for Peace not War
Let me begin by thanking President Obama for sharing the Nobel Peace Prize with all of us that work for peace every day.
When the announcement was first made public he said that there were many deserving people and he shared it with them.
So, I accept it and below I present my own acceptance speech.
When we look back at history it is easy to presume that humans were the greatest creatures to ever walk mother earth.
There have been great feats, unbelievable physical art works, and institutions that mold society into what it is today. But
this is not enough to insure a place for the ages. Peace will ultimately determine humankind’s longevity on this planet,
because war’s present course only leads us down a destructive path of annihilation one day at a time. Our collective
capacity to understand and embrace peace before war will bear out in the narrative of history. Those that make war only
rationalize the use of violence. Most have used it to change societies that do not conform to their likeness. War is our
detriment. It is not a solution. It is humankind’s greatest flaw. The constant preparation for it leads to antagonisms that
leave each person vulnerable to attack. It leaves us on unstable ground for solving the true goals that humankind has faced
throughout time. Sustenance, shelter, medical care and free education at every level are in fact what peace would allow.
The provision of all necessities will guarantee us our safety and prolonged existence for the ages through the presentation
of peace first.
There would have been no Hitler had the German people laid to rest the philosophy of political violence as part of the basic
fabric of their culture, as many in the world today still follow. But somehow political leaders, professors and others that
manufacture consent in society have fallen for the vicious cycle of kill first, peace second, just as Germany did under
Hitler. For that matter just as humankind has since the beginning of time.
So how do we change and correct a lifelong error of misunderstanding about the glamour of war and the weakness of
peace? We can no longer let groups of criminals rule and dictate our behavior to the point that pouring more cruelty and
death on top of conflict seems like the reasonable answer. Nor can we blame those we corner mentally or physically,
shaming and humiliating them while starving them to death with sanctions. And then pretend we do not understand their
reaction to our oppressive occupation of time, space and mind. These invasions of arrogant terror create the atmosphere
for hating the interloper. We need not question them for wanting to defend their lives and culture because it is a natural
reaction for those that are being hunted.
Leaders in the world that say they want peace, but understand war is a reality in order to maintain the peace are behaving
no differently than the average street thug. There is a claiming of turf and the spoils go to the victor. They use the
philosophy of killers. “I need to kill a few more women and children first, in order for the world to have peace. It is not my
fault that they get in the way when I seek out my enemy.” We then continue to excuse ourselves for bombing homes where
the enemy is in mixed company and right off the innocent as expendable, sterilely naming it collateral damage, casualties.
You see how delusional it is, this cycle of death is not a solution on the road to attain peace, but it only feeds juvenile
retaliation. As if you could convince the world to stop the violence while pointing a gun at them.
The fact is any leader that advances war on nations that have not declared war on them becomes the wicked interloper.
For the earth’s only super power to attack one of the poorest countries in the world because a few criminals are being
sought is unconscionable. This behavior is immoral by any standard of common decency and intellectually defies the logic
of ordinary people that live a peaceful existence.
When you speak of the evil elements in the world, do you ever think of the war you perpetuate as blocking the ultimate end
of war? The real leaders of history put down their arms to negotiate and teach by example to the children of the world that
peace is the only choice. They reminded us about the dangers of the escalation of weaponry.
With so much power in these weapons of mass destruction that exists in the hands of the current super power, the world
still quivers at the sound of war for peace. The memories of the United States of American government, who openly used
them on innocent women and children in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, are haunting. For some war becomes a way of life. It
serves to defend false imposing ideas about a certain brand of democracy that the rest of the world is supposed to follow
or face the consequences. Those nations that conform become favored and share in the spoils of war.
We need not wonder what the real motives have been for war. Currently in the Middle East it is the quest for oil and new
pipe lines that must be built to fill our greedy self interest. No coincidence that Exxon Mobil has acquired a great deal in
Iraq. In Afghanistan, China is extracting precious cooper metal from a huge mine, 11 million tons, while US trained Afghan
troops stand guard. This is why the rich and powerful love war, it is their forte. It is their way to maintain power and crush
real change that could lead to a lasting peace at the expense of their riches.
America’s military under Bush II had little reason to bomb water supplies and other infrastructure in Iraq. When they did,
they failed to hurt Hussein’s army, but instead the innocent people, women and children suffered for lack of food, water and
medicine. Obama’s oxymoron of war for peace includes the ugly sanctions aimed at new advisories. These too will make
sure the masses will be hurt the most when they go without the basic needs to survive, while politicians boast of success.
When I think of war, it is one of the most vulgar words used in any language. It is not the common FU and other expletives
that constitute vulgarity; their usage is meant to add color to the vernacular heard in everyday conversation the world over.
But, the words that should be considered offensive and truly vulgar, in any language, are those that cause so much pain
and misery to humankind. War, its cohort’s genocide, holocaust, and their cousin’s famine, pandemic are the words that
we should teach as hideously vulgar. How dare you say them, act on them and feel no sense of guilt or responsibility for all
the human lives that have been lost. How many Gandhi’s, Martin Luther King’s, did we vanquish to the halls of oblivion
because of War?
But throughout history we have all be dirtied by war and the taint of terrorism. Is the mirror so cloudy that we can’t see
world history clearly? Did not some Jewish people commit a terrorist act when a bomb was planted at the King David Hotel
that killed 91? Oddly we have made up with other known terrorist groups or leaders, like Omar Kaddafi. Obama says Al-
Qaeda can’t be reasoned with, what he is really saying is he lacks the initiative to open dialogue with the enemy. And haven’
t we played the terrorist? For me the most vicious of terrorist’s acts was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Hundreds of thousands of innocents have died as a result and been stricken with cancer. So, history does repeat itself. We
act out with waging war, synonymous with terrorism and other atrocities, like it is normal behavior. Then we negotiate with
those we dominated and make them favored nations, while those that continue to resist catch more bombs.
Peace is a way to reason, through intellect, that we can overcome hate and destruction. With peace resources wasted on
war can be used for the betterment of the world. The world has never taught peace, which is why so few put it before war,
even though it is tantamount in understanding humane citizenship and not nationalistic antagonisms. Peace can put an end
to the atrocities we grow so weary of seeing over and over again in history.
I am sorry, but war by any other name is the perpetrator of injustice and crimes against all of humankind. When we look
back at history it will be war that was our demise. The earth will be scorched by the flurry of chemicals left by bombs of
mass destruction, and humankind will be extinct. Mother Earth may be uninhabitable for people, but it will live on as it has
for billions of years, while we lay six feet under. Peace, if left untouched as the number one priority for humankind will
result in abandoning the use of what set us apart from all evolutionary life on mother earth, our intellect to unravel conflict.
If our intellect has true meaning, then let it lead us around the corners of history and on to a new page. Let our intelligence
lead us to the era dominated by PEACE and not war. Peace teaches us a deep respect for human life. It shows us that
human life is not a commodity to be peddled at the market and later discarded as garbage.
While every human being dreams of eternal life, peace can guarantee it. From one generation to the next we can pass on
the true significance of self preservation for humankind and the planet we all treasure by teaching peace.
--
Peace,
Robert (Bob) Bracamontes
Yu-va'-tal 'A'lla-mal
(Black Crow)
Acjachemen Nation,
Juaneno Tribe
www.onlinewithbob.com
Bob's Acceptance Speech for the Nobel Peace Prize:
The Echo for Peace not War
Let me begin by thanking President Obama for sharing the Nobel Peace Prize with all of us that work for peace every day.
When the announcement was first made public he said that there were many deserving people and he shared it with them.
So, I accept it and below I present my own acceptance speech.
When we look back at history it is easy to presume that humans were the greatest creatures to ever walk mother earth.
There have been great feats, unbelievable physical art works, and institutions that mold society into what it is today. But
this is not enough to insure a place for the ages. Peace will ultimately determine humankind’s longevity on this planet,
because war’s present course only leads us down a destructive path of annihilation one day at a time. Our collective
capacity to understand and embrace peace before war will bear out in the narrative of history. Those that make war only
rationalize the use of violence. Most have used it to change societies that do not conform to their likeness. War is our
detriment. It is not a solution. It is humankind’s greatest flaw. The constant preparation for it leads to antagonisms that
leave each person vulnerable to attack. It leaves us on unstable ground for solving the true goals that humankind has faced
throughout time. Sustenance, shelter, medical care and free education at every level are in fact what peace would allow.
The provision of all necessities will guarantee us our safety and prolonged existence for the ages through the presentation
of peace first.
There would have been no Hitler had the German people laid to rest the philosophy of political violence as part of the basic
fabric of their culture, as many in the world today still follow. But somehow political leaders, professors and others that
manufacture consent in society have fallen for the vicious cycle of kill first, peace second, just as Germany did under
Hitler. For that matter just as humankind has since the beginning of time.
So how do we change and correct a lifelong error of misunderstanding about the glamour of war and the weakness of
peace? We can no longer let groups of criminals rule and dictate our behavior to the point that pouring more cruelty and
death on top of conflict seems like the reasonable answer. Nor can we blame those we corner mentally or physically,
shaming and humiliating them while starving them to death with sanctions. And then pretend we do not understand their
reaction to our oppressive occupation of time, space and mind. These invasions of arrogant terror create the atmosphere
for hating the interloper. We need not question them for wanting to defend their lives and culture because it is a natural
reaction for those that are being hunted.
Leaders in the world that say they want peace, but understand war is a reality in order to maintain the peace are behaving
no differently than the average street thug. There is a claiming of turf and the spoils go to the victor. They use the
philosophy of killers. “I need to kill a few more women and children first, in order for the world to have peace. It is not my
fault that they get in the way when I seek out my enemy.” We then continue to excuse ourselves for bombing homes where
the enemy is in mixed company and right off the innocent as expendable, sterilely naming it collateral damage, casualties.
You see how delusional it is, this cycle of death is not a solution on the road to attain peace, but it only feeds juvenile
retaliation. As if you could convince the world to stop the violence while pointing a gun at them.
The fact is any leader that advances war on nations that have not declared war on them becomes the wicked interloper.
For the earth’s only super power to attack one of the poorest countries in the world because a few criminals are being
sought is unconscionable. This behavior is immoral by any standard of common decency and intellectually defies the logic
of ordinary people that live a peaceful existence.
When you speak of the evil elements in the world, do you ever think of the war you perpetuate as blocking the ultimate end
of war? The real leaders of history put down their arms to negotiate and teach by example to the children of the world that
peace is the only choice. They reminded us about the dangers of the escalation of weaponry.
With so much power in these weapons of mass destruction that exists in the hands of the current super power, the world
still quivers at the sound of war for peace. The memories of the United States of American government, who openly used
them on innocent women and children in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, are haunting. For some war becomes a way of life. It
serves to defend false imposing ideas about a certain brand of democracy that the rest of the world is supposed to follow
or face the consequences. Those nations that conform become favored and share in the spoils of war.
We need not wonder what the real motives have been for war. Currently in the Middle East it is the quest for oil and new
pipe lines that must be built to fill our greedy self interest. No coincidence that Exxon Mobil has acquired a great deal in
Iraq. In Afghanistan, China is extracting precious cooper metal from a huge mine, 11 million tons, while US trained Afghan
troops stand guard. This is why the rich and powerful love war, it is their forte. It is their way to maintain power and crush
real change that could lead to a lasting peace at the expense of their riches.
America’s military under Bush II had little reason to bomb water supplies and other infrastructure in Iraq. When they did,
they failed to hurt Hussein’s army, but instead the innocent people, women and children suffered for lack of food, water and
medicine. Obama’s oxymoron of war for peace includes the ugly sanctions aimed at new advisories. These too will make
sure the masses will be hurt the most when they go without the basic needs to survive, while politicians boast of success.
When I think of war, it is one of the most vulgar words used in any language. It is not the common FU and other expletives
that constitute vulgarity; their usage is meant to add color to the vernacular heard in everyday conversation the world over.
But, the words that should be considered offensive and truly vulgar, in any language, are those that cause so much pain
and misery to humankind. War, its cohort’s genocide, holocaust, and their cousin’s famine, pandemic are the words that
we should teach as hideously vulgar. How dare you say them, act on them and feel no sense of guilt or responsibility for all
the human lives that have been lost. How many Gandhi’s, Martin Luther King’s, did we vanquish to the halls of oblivion
because of War?
But throughout history we have all be dirtied by war and the taint of terrorism. Is the mirror so cloudy that we can’t see
world history clearly? Did not some Jewish people commit a terrorist act when a bomb was planted at the King David Hotel
that killed 91? Oddly we have made up with other known terrorist groups or leaders, like Omar Kaddafi. Obama says Al-
Qaeda can’t be reasoned with, what he is really saying is he lacks the initiative to open dialogue with the enemy. And haven’
t we played the terrorist? For me the most vicious of terrorist’s acts was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Hundreds of thousands of innocents have died as a result and been stricken with cancer. So, history does repeat itself. We
act out with waging war, synonymous with terrorism and other atrocities, like it is normal behavior. Then we negotiate with
those we dominated and make them favored nations, while those that continue to resist catch more bombs.
Peace is a way to reason, through intellect, that we can overcome hate and destruction. With peace resources wasted on
war can be used for the betterment of the world. The world has never taught peace, which is why so few put it before war,
even though it is tantamount in understanding humane citizenship and not nationalistic antagonisms. Peace can put an end
to the atrocities we grow so weary of seeing over and over again in history.
I am sorry, but war by any other name is the perpetrator of injustice and crimes against all of humankind. When we look
back at history it will be war that was our demise. The earth will be scorched by the flurry of chemicals left by bombs of
mass destruction, and humankind will be extinct. Mother Earth may be uninhabitable for people, but it will live on as it has
for billions of years, while we lay six feet under. Peace, if left untouched as the number one priority for humankind will
result in abandoning the use of what set us apart from all evolutionary life on mother earth, our intellect to unravel conflict.
If our intellect has true meaning, then let it lead us around the corners of history and on to a new page. Let our intelligence
lead us to the era dominated by PEACE and not war. Peace teaches us a deep respect for human life. It shows us that
human life is not a commodity to be peddled at the market and later discarded as garbage.
While every human being dreams of eternal life, peace can guarantee it. From one generation to the next we can pass on
the true significance of self preservation for humankind and the planet we all treasure by teaching peace.
--
Peace,
Robert (Bob) Bracamontes
Yu-va'-tal 'A'lla-mal
(Black Crow)
Acjachemen Nation,
Juaneno Tribe
www.onlinewithbob.com
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