Coming to Clarity during the Vietnam War
At first I would not believe that our allies, our liberators, the Americans, would plan and carry out programs which were total annihilation sweeps. I felt as did so many good Germans during the Nazi…
Composing “HOWL”
Here’s Allen Ginsberg talking about the process of writing HOWL, which is reminiscent of Natalie Goldberg’s project in Writing down the Bones, to free the writer within: I thought I wouldn’t write a poem but…
My Beloved Syria, My Beloved Alawi Friends: A Presentation by Steve Tamari
For our next gathering of Share the Wealth, on Sunday 7 October, Steve Tamari will briefly explain the context for the civil war in Syria and share why sectarianism is a reality but not the…
Clarity
The original sin of the prevailing world system has first of all been colonial domination. This is the first sin; all the others in the system spring from it. The greater sins are those that…
Today’s Aspiration
No hostilities Firecrackering off In my mind
Wednesday 19 September
A sunny day 70 degrees Sitting outside together We discuss the future— Prospects, possibilities, The quixotic quest for balance in this topsy-turvy world
Gratitude of the Day
Best breakfast at Half and Half with Dr. Sadat in Clayton!
On Seeing and Solidarity: Jimmy Carter, Palestine, Vietnam
1. In his 2007 book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter had this to say: “When we arrived there in January 1996, it was obvious that the Israelis had almost complete control…
Latin America Reading Group
Julia Thomas, Mary Shannon and I are beginning a Latin America Reading Group. Our first book will be Che Guevara’s The Motorcycle Diaries. We hope to meet up in mid-October at Café Ventana, and will…
The American Mind/The Asian Mind
1. “I don’t really see that we’re the bad boy.” “Why should I feel responsible?” “But the thing which I think I will remember about Vietnam when I am a hundred years old and will…