Writer Salman Rushdie: “Free Palestine would be a Taliban state” [NOTE: This text was published by Die Bild, a German newspaper, and machine-translated from German into English. ] May 19, 2024 Martyrs of freedom: Writer Salman Rushdie has been threatened with death by Islamists for decades. In 2022, a man attacked him life-threatening with … Continue reading Rushdie on “Free Palestine,” Speaking in Germany
Last month I attended two presentations by the new AFSC Director of Quaker Engagement, Brian Blackmore, at Durham and Chapel Hill Meetings here in North Carolina. Blackmore, just a year in the job, is the successor to Lucy Duncan, a longtime AFSC staffer who was unceremoniously fired in early 2022 when she tried to start … Continue reading AFSC: When the Slides Went Awry, And The Key Questions Weren’t Asked . . .
It’s a venerable Jewish joke: a Jew falls off a ship, in mid-ocean, and swims to an uninhabited island. Years later, his SOS signal is spotted. When rescuers arrive, they find he has managed to construct three small buildings from flotsam and jetsam: a small cabin, and two identical synagogues. “Why two?” He was asked. … Continue reading Could Drafting Ultra-OrthodoxYouth Bring Down Israel’s Government?
Gwynne Dyer remains one of my go-to reporter/analysts on the international scene. Here he brings three recent, revealing and concise snapshots. Three famines: Gaza, Sudan, and Haiti Gwynne Dyer There are three incipient famines in the world today, and politics is at the root of all of them. That’s not unusual, actually: Famines are almost … Continue reading Three Timely Reports from Gwynne Dyer, from Ireland, Sudan, Gaza, Haiti & England
[Note: These days, I don’t get out as much as I used to: age, ailments, etc. That means I don’t keep up well as I once did. So I may be missing some stuff, and I hope somebody will catch me up. This anti-LGBTQ news from Ghana and Burundi (and Kenya & Uganda) is … Continue reading What am I Missing? Some Burning Questions