Shikata ga nai

At the Island Poetry Fest this past May, poet Larry Matsuda read from his book, A Cold Wind From Idaho. In it he wrote of his experiences growing up at Minidoka, the Idaho War Relocation Center where 120,000 Japanese Americans were interned during World War II. He prefaced one of his readings with an explanation of the term "shikata ga nai", which he translated as "it cannot be helped". As one of the basic tenets of the Japanese philosophy of life, Matsuda showed how shikata ga nai helped many in the camps to get through their stay.

In googling around as to how this phrase is spelled I found one site that defined shikata ga nai, beyond it cannot be helped, as either "a fatalistic unwillingness to make changes, or an enlightened acceptance of life". It also mentioned the French term "c’est la vie" as being similar in concept to shikata ga nai. As Matsuda framed it, the idea that it cannot be helped seemed weightier and intense than the more casual French version, which to me seems more akin to the great American colloquialism: whatever.

Regardless of whatever end of that spectrum one lands on, it seems that plodding along with what some might call a blind acceptance of what goes on around you is something that allows most humans to get through their day. It is, of course, easier to pull up your socks, set your jaw and march straight forward to whatever fate awaits you than it is to step out of line, refuse the Kool-aid and suffer the consequences of ridicule or worse for your questioning actions.

We see evidence of this daily. The recent "debt crisis" has been explained by some as no real crisis at all, or at least not one that should have happened, given that raising the debt ceiling has not been an issue in the past until the Republicans decided to make it one. It could have been helped. If one listens with interest to the story told by director Charles Ferguson and his Oscar winning documentary, Inside Job, one finds that it was the banks and their back room dealings and not the masses of irresponsible home buyers that crashed the economy a few years back- it could have been helped if someone who was supposed to be in charge of parting the fog in the smoke-filled rooms had been doing their jobs, but instead they chose the whatever option.

One could go on, but I need to get to the point here, that being that if one chooses to point out that there is Trouble in River City, so to speak, there is a very good chance that one will be labeled a troublemaker, or in the worst case- a conspiracy theorist. With the rapid approach of that now iconic date, September 11th, the volume has been cranked up on the shikata ga nai machine surrounding the events of that day and beyond, and anyone who does not nod and "remember" and walk on will be shunned and vilified by those from the media church of unwillingness to make changes. Whatever.

On Sunday, September 11th from 4-6pm at Café Luna, we will be screening the latest film, 9/11: Explosive Evidence- the Experts Speak Out, from Richard Gage, the founder and driving force behind the group Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. With over 1500 professionals signing on, Gage has moved forward to promote his professional belief that the structural integrity of the twin towers and more importantly, that of WTC7 was such that the accepted story about collapse from fires was largely fudged and untested by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The collapse of Building 7 remains the greatest mystery in the saga of the events of that day. Largely unknown and unremembered, the collapse of Building 7 occurred at 5:21pm, hours after the Twin Towers came down. Building 7 had only been slightly damaged from falling tower debris as it was located over a half a block away, and only small fires were in evidence in the evacuated building throughout the day. It collapsed in its own footprint in what Gage and many others claim could only have happened through a controlled demolition.

I know what I believe in regard to the events of 9/11 after a long hard look at the range of tales and evidence surrounding it. I know there are nutbags associated with many parts of "the movement" and I recently complained to the moderators on the local 9/11 visibility list about all the HAARP, Chemtrail, NAU crap (look it up if you want but I wouldn’t waste my time if I were you ) that kept cropping up, and a policy of 9/11 info only was soon adopted- small victory. I have backed off a lot in my campaigning for 9/11 truth as of late, as I don’t really know what it will ultimately accomplish, or if anything close to the truth will be allowed to surface on a scale large enough to tip the scales on the prevailing 9/11 story and zeitgeist. I do know that I don’t believe in shikata ga nai, c’est la vie or whatever, which is why I continue to show these films at Lunavision. This will be the first film in the Fall series, and we will go back to two a month in October. All Lunavision screenings are free and open to anyone. I am not claiming that these films are gospel, which is why we encourage discussion afterward. All you have to do is show up with an open mind. Albert Einstein is credited with this saying on the AE911Truth site: "Condemnation without investigation is the highest form of ignorance." Come and see what you think.