Anti war activist douses himself with gasoline and sets himself ablaze

[ECH1969]

The man who doused himself with gasoline and lit himself near a 25-foot-tall sculpture titled "Flame of the Millennium" was Malachi Ritscher, 52, a local musician and anti-war activist.

The medical examiner ID'd Ritscher on Wednesday through medical records. Friends were already convinced it was him.

Ritscher left a long farewell note on his Web site. "My actions should be self-explanatory, and since in our self-obsessed culture words seldom match the deed, writing a mission statement would seem questionable," he wrote.

"So judge me by my actions. Maybe some will be scared enough to wake from their walking dream state -- am I therefore a martyr or a terrorist? I would prefer to be thought of as a 'spiritual warrior.' Our so-called leaders are the real terrorists in the world today, responsible for more deaths than Osama bin Laden.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/roeper/130292,cst-nws-roep09.article
-----------------------------------------

This reminds me of those monks in the 60s.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

1. while it is a powerful statement

it ultimately achieves nothing to kill oneself as a protest...sad that he felt the need to do this.

sP

[Guaranteed]

28. It's pretty over the top.

If you're going to do it, though, do it outside the Fox & Friends studio.

[niceypoo]

2. Ouch!

I have never understood self imolation. It sure grabs attention though. Oh the agony.

[ECH1969]

5. It grabs attention

[ECH1969]

9. BTTT

[ECH1969]

30. ouch is right

[noahmijo]

3. Sorry but you're a suicide

I can't respect this man. He simply took his life out of frustration not for any noble cause. He is not a martyr just a suicide nothing more. I cannot and will not put him in the same ballpark as those who involuntarily died at the hands of war or injustice. His depression over current events is nothing that everybody else on our side of the fence haven't been experiencing for the last decade or longer.

Note: I am NOT happy he is dead I don't "piss on his grave" or anything like that, I'm just saying I refuse to honor his "sacrifice" the way I'd honor some poor 19 year old kid who joined the army to get through college and wound up getting splattered by an IED instead.

[IndyOp]

15. Self-immolation is long and painful, 'suicides' are trying to escape pain...

In my opinion, self-immolation is more than suicide. Self-immolation could result from a mental illness, but more often I believe it is not. Why?

Some Native Americans practice flesh-giving rituals (like flesh offerings or flesh piercings as part of a Sundance) as part of their spiritual practice. You may not like or understand, but it is motivated by a belief that if, indeed, we cling to and value most our own life, then to give of our flesh is a real sacrifice. Flesh offerings remind me that unless we are willing to sacrifice our comfort, risk our food and housing security, our very lives -- then we will not take a stand for what is right when we most need to: when we see someone being hurt by discrimination, by imprisonment or torture, or when we witness genocide.

From Wikipedia:

Self-immolation, whilst not tolerated in anything but extraordinary circumstances by Buddhism and Hinduism, was practiced by religious or philosophical monks, especially in India, throughout the ages, for various reasons, including political protest, devotion, renouncement, etc. Certain warrior cultures also practiced it, such as in the case of Rajputs.

A number of Buddhist monks, including Thích Quảng Đức in 1963, self-immolated in protest of the discriminatory treatment endured by Buddhists under the regime of the Catholic President Ngô Đình Diệm in South Vietnam — even though violence against the self is discouraged by most interpretations of Buddhist doctrine.

Three Americans immolated themselves in 1965, in protest of the Vietnam War; the first was Alice Herz, an 82-year-old German immigrant who performed the act in downtown Detroit on March 16, 1965, prior to the University of Michigan Teach-in. The second was Norman Morrison, who performed the act after reading an article by a missionary about the destruction of a Vietnamese village by napalm. The third was Roger Allen LaPorte, in front of the United Nations building in New York City on November 9, 1965. At the time, he was a 22-year-old Catholic Worker Movement member. On May 10, 1970, 23-year-old George Winne Jr. immolated himself on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. He left a sign saying "In the Name of God, stop the war".

On 8 September 1968, Polish lawyer and former soldier of Armia Krajowa Ryszard Siwiec burned himself during an official Communist ceremony in the main stadium of Warsaw protesting against the Warsaw Pact intervention in Czechoslovakia in August 1968.

Five months later, in January 1969, Jan Palach immolated himself in Prague to protest against the recent Soviet military backlash against the reforming "Prague Spring" movement. A month later, another student, Jan Zajíc underwent self-immolation for the same reason.

==============End Wiki

Mitakuye Oyasin

[bryant69]

33. You can dress it up anyway you like

It's still a bad move. It's choosing the short (albeit painful) and "heroic" way rather than the longer more painful more frusterating task of actually working to build a better future.

How many of our leaders wlould you like to see following this guys example?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Selatius]

4. Buddhist monks in South Vietnam did the same thing to protest Diem and his US backers

It's a powerful statement indeed.

[Zomby Woof]

36. It's also stupid

It means one less person to fight which needs to be fought.

Worst form of "protest" ever, followed by hunger strikes.

[Mandate My Ass]

6. Almost ten years ago to the day

Kathy Change, a performance artist and social activist, did the same thing in front of a giant peace sign statue on Penn's campus. It was horrible. The letter she left said politics was broken, people didn't care, and that society in general was becoming so detached and hate-filled she felt she needed to do something drastic. During the Clinton years I thought that was extreme but I see what she means now.

[ECH1969]

7. Interesting

[IndyOp]

12. During the Clinton years, economic sanctions in Iraq contributed

to 500,000 "excess deaths" -- mostly children, elderly, sick, poor -- who could not afford food, medicine, or decent, clean shelter. There has been no period of time, since World War II especially, during which our nation was not causing pain and death in some country for the good of corporate interests.


The problem is not Haditha.

The problem is not Abu Sifa.

The problem is not Abu Ghraib.

The problem is not Iraq.

The problem is not George W Bush.

THE PROBLEM IS ONGOING USE of the US Military for control of markets and resources.



Killing Hope. Over 250 Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II
...by William Blum (ex-CIA)

If you flip over the rock of American foreign policy of the past century, this is what crawls out ... invasions ... bombings ... overthrowing governments ... suppressing movements for social change ... assassinating political leaders ... perverting elections ... manipulating labor unions ...manufacturing "news" ... death squads ...torture ... biological warfare ...depleted uranium ... drug trafficking ...mercenaries ...

It's not a pretty picture.
It is enough to give imperialism a bad name.

Read the full details in:
Killing Hope - Over 250 Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II by William Blum

"Far and away the best book on the topic." Noam Chomsky

Table of Contents
Introduction
1. China - 1945 to 1960s: Was Mao Tse-tung just paranoid?
2. Italy - 1947-1948: Free elections, Hollywood style
3. Greece - 1947 to early 1950s: From cradle of democracy to client state
4. The Philippines - 1940s and 1950s: America's oldest colony
5. Korea - 1945-1953: Was it all that it appeared to be?
6. Albania - 1949-1953: The proper English spy
7. Eastern Europe - 1948-1956: Operation Splinter Factor
8. Germany - 1950s: Everything from juvenile delinquency to terrorism
9. Iran - 1953: Making it safe for the King of Kings
10. Guatemala - 1953-1954: While the world watched
11. Costa Rica - Mid-1950s: Trying to topple an ally - Part 1
12. Syria - 1956-1957: Purchasing a new government
13. Middle East - 1957-1958: The Eisenhower Doctrine claims another backyard for America
14. Indonesia - 1957-1958: War and pornography
15. Western Europe - 1950s and 1960s: Fronts within fronts within fronts
16. British Guiana - 1953-1964: The CIA's international labor mafia
17. Soviet Union - Late 1940s to 1960s: From spy planes to book publishing
18. Italy - 1950s to 1970s: Supporting the Cardinal's orphans and techno-fascism
19. Vietnam - 1950-1973: The Hearts and Minds Circus
20. Cambodia - 1955-1973: Prince Sihanouk walks the high-wire of neutralism
21. Laos - 1957-1973: L'Armée Clandestine
22. Haiti - 1959-1963: The Marines land, again
23. Guatemala - 1960: One good coup deserves another
24. France/Algeria - 1960s: L'état, c'est la CIA
25. Ecuador - 1960-1963: A text book of dirty tricks
26. The Congo - 1960-1964: The assassination of Patrice Lumumba
27. Brazil - 1961-1964: Introducing the marvelous new world of death squads
28. Peru - 1960-1965: Fort Bragg moves to the jungle
29. Dominican Republic - 1960-1966: Saving democracy by getting rid of democracy
30. Cuba - 1959 to 1980s: The unforgivable revolution
31. Indonesia - 1965: Liquidating President Sukarno ... and 500,000 others
East Timor - 1975: And 200,000 more
32. Ghana - 1966: Kwame Nkrumah steps out of line
33. Uruguay - 1964-1970: Torture -- as American as apple pie
34. Chile - 1964-1973: A hammer and sickle stamped on your child's forehead
35. Greece - 1964-1974: "Fuck your Parliament and your Constitution," said
the President of the United States
36. Bolivia - 1964-1975: Tracking down Che Guevara in the land of coup d'etat
37. Guatemala - 1962 to 1980s: A less publicized "final solution"
38. Costa Rica - 1970-1971: Trying to topple an ally -- Part 2
39. Iraq - 1972-1975: Covert action should not be confused with missionary work
40. Australia - 1973-1975: Another free election bites the dust
41. Angola - 1975 to 1980s: The Great Powers Poker Game
42. Zaire - 1975-1978: Mobutu and the CIA, a marriage made in heaven
43. Jamaica - 1976-1980: Kissinger's ultimatum
44. Seychelles - 1979-1981: Yet another area of great strategic importance
45. Grenada - 1979-1984: Lying -- one of the few growth industries in Washington
46. Morocco - 1983: A video nasty
47. Suriname - 1982-1984: Once again, the Cuban bogeyman
48. Libya - 1981-1989: Ronald Reagan meets his match
49. Nicaragua - 1981-1990: Destabilization in slow motion
50. Panama - 1969-1991: Double-crossing our drug supplier
51. Bulgaria 1990/Albania 1991: Teaching communists what democracy is all about
52. Iraq - 1990-1991: Desert holocaust
53. Afghanistan - 1979-1992: America's Jihad
54. El Salvador - 1980-1994: Human rights, Washington style
55. Haiti - 1986-1994: Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?
56. The American Empire - 1992 to present

Appendix I: This is How the Money Goes Round
Appendix II: Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-1945
Appendix III: U. S. Government Assassination Plots


Watch this Google video: "What I've Learned About US Foreign Policy - The War Against the Third World" http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3453261789658676035&pl=true

[ECH1969]

32. BTTT

[IndyOp]

38. What does BTTT mean? (n/t)

[ECH1969]

40. Bump to the top

[IndyOp]

43. Thank you. (n/t)

[Mandate My Ass]

37. I admit I was complacent during the 90's

Not really paying attention but she was. Yes this is what Kathy wanted to bring attention to and I, for one, am glad I woke up. I agree, it's not just the Bushies that contribute to the evil in the world.

[regularguy]

26. Yeah, I remember Kathy Chang/Change.

She was all around Philly with her flags and signs. I haven't thought about her in a while. RIP.

[ECH1969]

27. Interesting

[IndyOp]

8. K&R this please. The goal is to make the pain of war more visible,

more immediate. His only mistake, in my opinion, he did not get it on film so that people would have to watch it.

The Buddhist monks who engaged in self-immolation in the Vietnam era did so to face evil instead of yielding to it - and it appeared on the evening news and it had an impact on ending the war.

Daily, I yield to the evil and so do we all who do not spend 24/7 working to end our nation's violence. I am with Dr. King -- mine is the most violent nation on the face of the earth.

It is hard to know what to say about Malachi Ritscher, was he simply depressed and should have been saved. Did he make a perfectly sane decision as a 'spiritual warrior'? I won't try to judge. I will say that I do believe that his action may have been a sacrifice designed to affect us all and I know it has me.

[ECH1969]

10. I didn't know that

[crispini]

16. I think it might have been both.

From his statement:

I am amazed how many people think they know me, even people who I have never talked with. Many people will think that I should not be able to choose the time and manner of my own death. My position is that I only get one death, I want it to be a good one. Wouldn't it be better to stand for something or make a statement, rather than a fiery collision with some drunk driver? Are not smokers choosing death by lung cancer? Where is the dignity there? Are not the people the people who disregard the environment killing themselves and future generations? Here is the statement I want to make: if I am required to pay for your barbaric war, I choose not to live in your world. I refuse to finance the mass murder of innocent civilians, who did nothing to threaten our country. I will not participate in your charade - my conscience will not allow me to be a part of your crusade. There might be some who say "it's a coward's way out" - that opinion is so idiotic that it requires no response. From my point of view, I am opening a new door.

What is one more life thrown away in this sad and useless national tragedy? If one death can atone for anything, in any small way, to say to the world: I apologize for what we have done to you, I am ashamed for the mayhem and turmoil caused by my country. I was alive when John F. Kennedy instilled hope into a generation, and I was a sorry witness to the final crushing of hope by Dick Cheney's puppet, himself a pawn of the real rulers, the financial plunderers and looters who profit from every calamity; following the template of Reagan's idiocracy.

http://www.savagesound.com/gallery99.htm

[IndyOp]

18. I see what you are saying, and

I think that people who are motivated to commit suicide to escape pain are likely to seek a quick method to 'escape the pain' they feel here, not self-immolation. It is a long and obviously very painful death.

Still, I do see what you are saying - especially when he says this: "What is one more life thrown away in this sad and useless national tragedy?"

:(

[Erechtheides]

29. John F. Kennedy

was a warmonger.

People should do some fact checking before they set themselves on fire.

[IndyOp]

39. Kennedy may have gone into Vietnam because he was afraid of being

perceived 'weak' after the Bay of Pigs -- however, I understand that the "Bay of Pigs" was launched WITHOUT his approval by the CIA, it was launched to weaken him and he was stunned and sickened that they would try to precipitate a nuclear stand-off that could destroy the world.

Kennedy also skillfully got us out of the Cuban Missile Crisis alive - and, according to McNamara (in "Fog of War") there were more nukes in Cuba at that time than the administration had known.

I have to give Kennedy a 'mixed' rating -- I don't think he was a warmonger. Keep in mind that the CIA has been the source of most Black Ops since WWII. Kennedy was going after them and so they went after him.

:(

[Theres-a]

17. K and R

[RandomKoolzip]

21. Actually, it only makes Mr. Ritscher's poor decision-making skills

more visible.

[IndyOp]

23. I strongly disagree. Mitakuye Oyasin. (n/t)

[Jim Warren]

11. So very easy to condemn

from some comfortable, waxy fold, "sophisticates" indeed.



"On the Fire Suicides of the Buddhists" by Charles Bukowski

"They only burn themselves to reach Paradise"
- Mne. Nhu

original courage is good,
motivation be damned,
and if you say they are trained
to feel no pain,
are they
guarenteed this?
is it still not possible
to die for somebody else?

you sophisticates
who sit back and
make statements of explanation,
I have seen the red rose burning
and this means more.

[The2ndWheel]

13. Unfortunately, rather pointless

As are most protests. There will be another war. There always is. As is pointed out in another post above, there hasn't been a decade where the US hasn't been involved somewhere on this planet militarily or economically. I see no reason that ever changes. We have a standing army, our economy is based on endless growth, and our empire has been growing since manifest destiny. It just depends on which of the 6.5 billion people on the planet we kill and exploit, not if.

[Jim Warren]

19. Pointless?

Your post and sentiment contained therein makes a pretty good case for the dismal, shallow and pointless existence we share.

[crispini]

14. Wow. I never thought we'd see this again.

A LOT more details here:
http://www.velvetrope.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=UBB1&Number=875294&Searchpage=1&Main=875145&Words=&topic=&Search=true

Link to the suicide note:
http://www.savagesound.com/gallery99.htm

[RandomKoolzip]

20. Wow. What a dumb thing to do.

Suicide: The Ultimate "Duh."

Y'know, mister St. Ignatius-wanna-be, we could have used a highly motivated guy like yourself here on earth and in the US - you're of no use dead, you schmuck.

[Rockstone]

22. Pics please?

[ECH1969]

25. you are bad

[IndyOp]

41. Self-delete. Link did not work. See next post.

[IndyOp]

42. Picture of Buddhist monk's self-immolation here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Thich_Quang_Duc_-_Self_Immolation.jpg

Malcolm Browne photographed the immolation of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc during the Buddhist Protests of 1963. He used an estimated six to eight rolls of 35-millimeter film while photographing the event. Its copyright most likely belongs to the Associated Press.

Popular band Rage Against The Machine used a section of this image on the album cover of their first, self titled album, "Rage Against the Machine" of 1992. The image symbolized rebellion and politics which was the theme of most of their songs.

[Renew Deal]

24. Someone should have told him that we won the election.

:grr:

[shadowknows69]

31. Only true evil can drive honorable men to such extremes

to fight that evil. Reconsider Nancy. Impeach the criminals.

[Strelnikov_]

34. One More Data Point On The Path To IraqNam

Interesting to note that this happened in 65, about the same point we are at now in along the path to IraqNam. Actually we are ahead. Through 1965, there had been 1,864 killed and 7,337 wounded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Morrison

Norman Morrison (December 29, 1933 - November 2, 1965), born in Erie, Pennsylvania, was a Quaker best known for committing suicide by self-immolation at age 31 to protest the United States involvement in the Vietnam War.

On November 2, 1965, Morrison set himself on fire in front of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's Pentagon office, after dousing himself in gasoline. He left his wife Anne Welsh and three children; Ben, Christina and Emily - Morrison took his one-year-old daughter Emily with him, either setting her down or handing her off to someone in the crowd, before setting himself ablaze. His wife later recalled:

"Whether he thought of it that way or not, I think having Emily with him was a final and great comfort to Norman,"..."And she was a powerful symbol of the children we were killing with our bombs and napalm-who didn't have parents to hold them in their arms." <1>

In a letter he mailed to his wife, Morrison reassured her of the faith in his act. "Know that I love thee," Morrison wrote, "but I must go to help the children of the priest's village."

[Xenotime]

35. I'm suprised freepers aren't doing this...

After losing what they stole. I wonder how long before depression sets in on them.

[Laelth]

44. Bush MUST be impeached.

The world and the American people are waiting to see if we will hold * accountable. Mr. Ritscher's acts are yet another desperate plea for justice. Will we give it to him, to America, and the world? Or will we roll over and "play nice" in the name of advancing our legislative agenda (that Bush will veto, anyway)?

:mad:

-Laelth


Edit:Laelth--grammar.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

45. I look at Mr. Ritscher in the same way

I look at hunger-strikers. They garner a lot of attention, but if you're dead, how can you continue to fight for the their causes? It's a wasted life, and an extreme waste in this instance where the man was so passionate about a worthy cause.

The average person will look at Ritscher as a "kook", not a hero.

[cassiepriam]

46. I am saying a prayer for Mr. Ritscher

Most Americans, myself included, do not have the courage to die for their beliefs.

So while some will say he is a martyr, others will say he was a fool.

But compared to most Americans who care only about the price of gas and the latest super bowl contender, I must respect his stance.

We are so proud of the American people for voting out the repugs on Tuesday. But the only inconvenience was to take a half hour out of their day to pull a lever or mark a ballot. A decision that took no courage, and little intelligence (after all the bush co corruption it was a no brainier.)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

47. What A Tremendously Moronic Thing To Do. My Sympathies To His Family.