Peace and War

The most patriotic Fourth of July celebration I’ve ever been to was not in Washington, D.C., but at a little lake in Virginia. We were picnicking on the shore of the lake along with about 75 not very close friends and family. This was a few years ago. I must have been 8 years old.

The lake was packed with boats almost the way the Beltway gets packed with cars, but this fact wasn’t slowing them down.  The boats were mostly, if not all, decorated with red, white, and blue, and mostly, read more

No human being wants to be ruled by their people’s murderers. Forgiveness through restorative justice may be possible, but being ruled by murderers is asking for too much.

Yet, that seems to be the Hobson’s choice behind the Afghan presidential election, which is into its run-off between Dr. Abdullah / Mohaqiq’s team and Dr. Ashraf Ghani / General Dostum’s team, neither team having won more than 50% of balloted votes in the first round.

Both teams have members who are read more

Judging from my email box in recent years — which often differs on this question with such sources of knowledge as my television or the New York Times — the conscience of our country lies somewhere near Syracuse, New York.  Here’s an email from an activist named Judy Bello, for example: =&0=&“MaryAnne Grady-Flores was convicted in DeWitt Town Court last night on 2nd Degree Contempt of an Order Of Protection.  Grady-Flores, who did not intend to violate the Order despite its immorality and invalidity, was taking pictures of others at the base – the Ash Wednesday Witnesses –  who engaged in nonviolent civil resistance blocking the front Gate to Hancock base for which they were subsequently acquitted.

“In a heinous abuse of an instrument meant to protect the innocent from violence, Orders of Protection are being used to protect violent transgressions of international and moral law from citizen oversight. While trying to publicize and support a movement to ground the drones and end the wars which take countless innocent lives, Grady-Flores was arrested for noncompliance with an order that does read more

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us a secret memo that gets us out of the bit about Thou-shalt-not-kill.

And, lo, as I was driving home from the committee hearing I was pulled over for speeding, and I said unto the officer, “I’ve got a memo that lets me speed. Would you like to see it?” and he said, “No thank you, and not your grocery list or your diary read more