Category Archives: Other War Notes

“Prophetic & Scary” — A Quaker Mystery from 1993 That “Foretold” the Course of U.S. History Til Today

I

In 1992, I spent much of my free time planning a murder.

I mapped it out it out to the last detail: victim, weapon, motive, opportunity, covering the tracks, the whole meticulous homicidal mess. In the end, it went almost exactly according to plan, and was a complete success.

Almost.

Fortunately for all concerned, the murder was fictional: the plot of a mystery novel,
Murder Among Friends, published in 1993. It sold out two printings; that was the successful part.

But I’m remembering it now for a different reason. One of its central plot elements, indeed the underlying theme — the reason I wrote it —was not the homicide, but the context: the murder was a portent, a forerunner of a larger real-life conflict, with a grim history and an ominous future. I could feel it coming then; two decades later, long after the novel ended with this part unresolved, it has moved from fiction to perilously close to fact.

Its history was our American Civil War (the first one): my tale was set in one of its most contested killing fields, the splendid and fertile Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, near Winchester. The Valley was fought over repeatedly, and changed hands between Blue and Grey dozens of times. Today its landscape is dotted with battlefield memorials and war cemeteries.

It seemed an apt locale for early warnings of a potential repeat catastrophe. Further, the Valley had the other feature I wanted for my story: a long and turbulent, but little-known Quaker presence.

Continue reading “Prophetic & Scary” — A Quaker Mystery from 1993 That “Foretold” the Course of U.S. History Til Today

A Sparkling New Podcast on “Tell It Slant” – The Biography of Chuck Fager

Announcing A Brand-New, free podcast, now online at the link below:

Tell It Slant-Podcast with Emma, Chuck & Mark

Continue reading A Sparkling New Podcast on “Tell It Slant” – The Biography of Chuck Fager

Nagasaki Atom Bombing: 79th Anniversary: Anybody Listening?

79th anniversary of Nagasaki bombing

August 9, 2024

The event commemorates those killed when the US dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city. This year’s event was boycotted by the US and UK after organizers decided not to invite the Israeli ambassador.

The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still evoke strong feelings in Japanese society, and the US has not formally apologized for the attacks
Imagd: Japan Pool/Kyodo/AP/picture alliance

Japan on Friday marked the 79th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the city of Nagasaki, which left tens of thousands of people dead.

Continue reading Nagasaki Atom Bombing: 79th Anniversary: Anybody Listening?

Flashbacks! I’m Having 1967 Anti-Draft Flashbacks! From Vietnam to Jerusalem

Sheesh! Did somebody slip one (or two) of those “new” cure-all psychedelic pills into my low-sodium tomato juice??

Must have, because I’m having wild and weird hallucinations from —I don’t know— 1967?  They’re full of long-haired young men shouting slogans against the draft.

I can tell they’re hallucinations because other than the hair, the protesters are dressed all alike in the most un-hip getup ever:  not a tie-dye in sight, nary a scrap of paisley, and no roaches anywhere. Maybe it’s a back alley scene from the Haight-Ashbury?

Also, the slogans seem to be aimed at overthrowing the government, but they’re all in some exotic local slang that, from the accents, sounds kind of —  kind of, like, maybe, Hebrew?

I know I’m delirious because I heard one of the longhairs talking English to some TV guy, and he  insisted they’re gonna make the revolution so they can all be free to — what?? Study Tarot? “Say what?” I asked. “Dude, like, the Age of Aquarius is so over.” He just grunted and flipped me off.

I must really be having a bum trip, I figured . . . .

Continue reading Flashbacks! I’m Having 1967 Anti-Draft Flashbacks! From Vietnam to Jerusalem

Gwynne Dyer: Wars in Gaza & Burma—Will They Ever End?

By Gwynne Dyer,  December 21, 2023

#1 – Gaza: The Bombed, the Bombers, The Limits?

Today (or yesterday, or tomorrow), the known death toll of Palestinians in Gaza since October 7th will reach 20,000.

The deaths of Hamas fighters are included in the numbers that the Hamas-run health ministry releases, and in past clashes with Israel the overall statistics have not been inflated. Hamas understands that accuracy builds credibility. So let’s say 5,000 of the dead are Hamas fighters, although it’s an implausibly high number.

Continue reading Gwynne Dyer: Wars in Gaza & Burma—Will They Ever End?