Category Archives: Other War Notes

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On Israel/Hamas: Many Conflicting “Truths”, Or Convictions

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Friends,

Kudos this week to the Christian Century (CC) magazine, for its statement on the Hamas/Israeli war.  They were not quick to run to the pundit barricades; when Hamas attacked, despite their shock, they grabbed their knees and kept them from jerking. They thought and struggled about it; their struggle likely continues.

And their considered editorial answer was –for me at least — clarifying. In sum, they said: the situation is complex as hell. (That’s my paraphrase.) More precisely:

From “Bearing Witness to Multiple Stories” (11/6/2023):

“Every conflict involves competing stories, but often one story clearly embodies far more truth than the other. Not in this case. Each of the two stories sketched out here [Palestinian & Israeli] is factually sound, historically informed, and morally compelling. Both stories are true.

And they are heartbreaking and tragic. Both are stories of people who love the land and deserve to live there in peace. Peace has long been stymied by political missteps, cycles of violence, and interventions by those who can only see one story’s truth. For US Christians, bearing witness to this conflict begins with recognizing that it contains more than one true story.”

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Two Unforgettable Recollections of Senator Dianne Feinstein

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Fate played a cruel, unwanted hand in Diane Feinstein’s political rise:

On Nov. 27, 1978, at the end of her tether, Ms. Feinstein [then a member of the San Francisco city Board of Supervisors] told City Hall reporters that she intended to quit political life. Two hours later, shots exploded down the hall from her office. She ran toward the gunfire and, moments later, knelt beside a dying mayor. Mr. Moscone and Harvey Milk, the city’s first openly gay supervisor, who was shot in another office, had been killed by Dan White, a disgruntled former supervisor, who was quickly captured and eventually imprisoned.

The Board of Supervisors selected Feinstein to succeed the slain Moscone and from the mayoralty, Feinstein won a U. S. Senate seat in 1992. Continue reading Two Unforgettable Recollections of Senator Dianne Feinstein →

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A Long Read to Ponder: Biden in Vietnam & at the UN: Who Could Have Imagined?

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An image from Vietnamese TV news, during Biden’s visit.

NOTE: Friends, this material just blows my mind.

Yes, that’s an outdated 1960s expression, but it fits here: this material is about the Vietnam War. And for me (plus, I figure, most of the remaining survivors of that era of national agony), having our minds blown was a thing.

Maybe initially it was fun, or mind-expanding. But for me, and for many, it happened too often back then, and it didn’t always mean by taking drugs. I didn’t do much of that, but had mind-blown fatigue anyway. Continue reading A Long Read to Ponder: Biden in Vietnam & at the UN: Who Could Have Imagined? →

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Gwynne Dyer: Armenia in Trouble— USA to the Rescue??

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Why it’s unlikely the US will help Armenia


by Gwynne Dyer, — Sept.

The Armenians are a people of great antiquity — the first Armenian kingdom was in the 8th century B.C. — but they grew up in a tough neighborhood, and they have been in retreat for a very long time.

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After the Sudden Storm: Minding the Light Again!

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About 10:30 Wednesday night, I was ready to pack it in: tired and frazzled from a day spent largely looking for chargers to recharge chargers for phone & Ipad, and then charging the devices while circling in the Fair Wendy’s air-conditioned EV., and buying drippy bags of ice from a darkened but open vape shop for the room temperature fridge/freezer.

I turned off the MSNBC audio feed my phone still had and was starting the push up out of the recliner when — voilá!

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