Originally posted on the Common Threads Blog,
Centre Daily Times, January 8, 2009
I do not find myself very enthusiastic about 2009 – mainly because of all the violence in the world during December2008 and now in January 2009.
If we are still solving our problems in the 21st century, with wars - which are akin to fist fights - is there much hope left for the human race?
When the terrorists attacked Mumbai, there were fears of a war between India and Pakistan. If that war had taken place, and it still might, would it be justified? Even if it were justified, would it be worth it? If there are other options, other than war, can countries pursue them, and be considered winners in the eyes of the world?
Brute force is easy to use, if we possess the ability to amass weapons. Right now, we are getting rationales for the war in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Many innocent people have lost their lives in this war, pitched as a battle between the state of Israel and Hamas. Is this loss of life justified? Perhaps to some.. Was this loss of life avoidable? I think the answer for me is a resounding Yes.
Today’s Washington Post carried an editorial by former President Jimmy Carter. It was entitled “An Unecessary War.”
I loved the title of the piece, a ray of hope for me in 2009. Even before we decide which side is in the right or the wrong, if we are able to use the adjective “unnecessary,” with the noun “war,” then we will be forced, and find ourselves able, to find creative solutions to our problems, without resorting to war.
Consider this example. When it was considered ok for parents to hit their children, then disciplining consisted of spanking. When that option was taken off the table, parents found new ways of disciplining, which did not involve corporal punishment.
And the world continued to move forward..
Similarly, there must be new ways of engagement between nations. Even when our sovereign territories are infringed upon, are there new ways of interacting with others that preclude violence?
To me, wars are not acceptable in the 21st century – humanity has come a long way, our destinies intertwined, and our abilities to negotiate enhanced.Right now, much of the international community is calling for the war to stop. I hope we will have a cease fire immediately, and am hopeful that we can sort out any problems with dialogue.
This month, many of us will be engaged in honoring Martin Luther King, the US champion of Non Violent Resistance, an idea he got from India’s Mahatma Gandhi, whom he admired very much. As we take part in our local events, I hope we can muse on this question - can we honor his legacy, if we do not protest violence around the world, whether they are caused by terrorists, or by the wars conducted by countries?
Comments: Interesting perspective
Submitted by checkmate on Thu, 2009-01-08 16:26.
It's too bad we can't all live the Golden Rule but for some unexplained reason humanity is not capable of this feat.
When the recent peace accord expired, one side lobbed rockets while the other side did nothing. After several days, one side issued a warning--stop the rockets or else. Pretty simple humanitarian request I think. The rocket launching side answered the request by lobbing more rockets. What outcome did the rocket-launching side expect? Peace? Roundtable discussions while their woman and children headed for cover when the incoming ordinance soared over head?
If the rocket launchers would have simply honored the Golden Rule they wouldn't be running from tanks and grenade launchers today. I realize that is a simple approach but it is the truth.
And yesterday, peaceful, loving allies of the rocket-launching side standing on American soil suggested that the peace keepers be ushered into ovens SCHNELL! SCHNELL! SCHNELL!
What is mankind to do in a situation like that? By the way, I try to live the Golden Rule every day and I hope you do too.
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Women's History or Our History?
Originally Posted in the Common Threads Blog
Centre Daily Times, March 25, 2008
It is March again, and time for another Women’s History Month.
This whole month, schools, colleges, and organizations plan special events to celebrate our focus on women’s realities.
My daughter, who is in fourth grade, has been designing postage stamps along with her classmates, that celebrate women’s achievements. She finally settled on a “Women Save the Earth” theme, focusing on Rachel Carson’s pioneering Silent Spring,that first elaborated how the chemicals we put out into the world seep into our environment. Her classmates focused on many other achievements by women in space, and other frontiers.
Celebrating these pioneers of the past is important for fostering our leaders of the future. It is also important to celebrate ordinary women, who are creating small improvements in the present time, by following their dreams and performing their duties, changing our collective landscape, one step at a time.
On the first day of spring break, my daughter and her friend got to meet one such present day ordinary woman - as they climbed aboard an FA-18 Navy Fighter plane at University Park Airport. They got to ask a lot of questions of the female pilot, one of the two people in the two seater plane, and learn about her job - of both piloting the plane, and dropping the missiles.
The peace-loving part of me was happy that my daughter did not like the “missile dropping part,” but loved the “piloting part” of the job. And I could sense the enormous impact that interacting with this woman had on the two nine year old girls - it expanded the possibilities of women’s roles in their eyes. And I know she would have had the same enormous impact on nine year old boys too.
I thought of that pilot yesterday, as I heard that the US death toll in Iraq has reached 4000. Of these, 95 were women, 2% of the total death toll, which is small compared to the 50:50 male female ratio in the real world, but is the largest death toll of women in any war since WWII.
These deaths of female soldiers are a part of Women’s history, and Men’s history, as much as the deaths of male soldiers are a part of both histories. For each of these soldiers has a family of men and women, whose lives and realities are unalterably changed by the deaths of their loved ones.
Ultimately, celebrating the history of women in March is a useful exercise, if we remember this history is just a vital subset of our collective history – and that if we focus on it throughout the year, we will not need to set aside a special month to celebrate and reflect on it.
Centre Daily Times, March 25, 2008
It is March again, and time for another Women’s History Month.
This whole month, schools, colleges, and organizations plan special events to celebrate our focus on women’s realities.
My daughter, who is in fourth grade, has been designing postage stamps along with her classmates, that celebrate women’s achievements. She finally settled on a “Women Save the Earth” theme, focusing on Rachel Carson’s pioneering Silent Spring,that first elaborated how the chemicals we put out into the world seep into our environment. Her classmates focused on many other achievements by women in space, and other frontiers.
Celebrating these pioneers of the past is important for fostering our leaders of the future. It is also important to celebrate ordinary women, who are creating small improvements in the present time, by following their dreams and performing their duties, changing our collective landscape, one step at a time.
On the first day of spring break, my daughter and her friend got to meet one such present day ordinary woman - as they climbed aboard an FA-18 Navy Fighter plane at University Park Airport. They got to ask a lot of questions of the female pilot, one of the two people in the two seater plane, and learn about her job - of both piloting the plane, and dropping the missiles.
The peace-loving part of me was happy that my daughter did not like the “missile dropping part,” but loved the “piloting part” of the job. And I could sense the enormous impact that interacting with this woman had on the two nine year old girls - it expanded the possibilities of women’s roles in their eyes. And I know she would have had the same enormous impact on nine year old boys too.
I thought of that pilot yesterday, as I heard that the US death toll in Iraq has reached 4000. Of these, 95 were women, 2% of the total death toll, which is small compared to the 50:50 male female ratio in the real world, but is the largest death toll of women in any war since WWII.
These deaths of female soldiers are a part of Women’s history, and Men’s history, as much as the deaths of male soldiers are a part of both histories. For each of these soldiers has a family of men and women, whose lives and realities are unalterably changed by the deaths of their loved ones.
Ultimately, celebrating the history of women in March is a useful exercise, if we remember this history is just a vital subset of our collective history – and that if we focus on it throughout the year, we will not need to set aside a special month to celebrate and reflect on it.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Figuring out the individuals in the SCASD School Board Primaries
Originally Posted on the Common Threads Blog,
Centre Daily Times, May 1, 2009
Several days ago, one of the candidates running for the SCASD school board knocked at my door. He introduced himself, and asked me if I had already made up my mind. Since I had a lot of questions and it was a cold night, my husband and I asked him to come in.
He was gracious enough to spend a lot of time talking with us. We got some idea of why he was running, his general philosophy of education and what he favored instead of the current high school construction plan. He favored two schools, had an idea of where the second school could be located, but said he would be responsive to community input on all options. He also said he would use technology to offset the costs of building a second school.
One example he gave us - for advanced courses with smaller enrollments and “motivated” students, teachers could physically teach a course at one school, which would be telecast to the second school. However, he did not elaborate on how we would choose which school would have the teachers, and which the technology – or how this option would impact the learning of these “motivated” students.
When he mentioned that taxes would be going up 9 percent if the current board continued, I told him that I had understood it differently. That 9 percent was only the figure for the maximum amount that taxes could be raised to – not the amount that taxes were definitely going to be raised to. His clarification that this was indeed true, gave me confidence in my assessment of the situation.
As we said good night, we appreciated the face time with him, giving us a better idea of him as a potential school board member – and a better basis on how to vote. To some extent, the recent coverage about the Centre County League of Women Voters Candidates Night held on April 25, 2007, in the CDT, provided us this face time with other candidates too. I was happy to see that the candidates’ positions on issues other than the High School renovation were reported on. About 60 people attended the event, and many more saw it on TV.
For those of us who missed it, the event will be telecast again on Channel 7 (CGTV) on May 2 at 10 am, May 3 at 9 pm, May 5 at 1 pm, May 8 at 12 am and May 10 at 2 pm. Further, candidate interviews can be viewed on Channel 98 (CETV) on May 2 at 6 pm, May 3 at 6 pm and May 6 at 8 pm, May 10 at 4 pm and May 12 at 5:30 pm. For more information on these events in the following weeks, you could go to http://centreconnect.org/index.html, and check the weekly schedule of CETV (Channel 98) and CGTV (Channel 7) or call 238-5031, if you wanted a copy of the programs.
We each need to use these opportunities to tune in to the individual candidates and go beyond the simplistic reduction of “Go” versus “Stop/Change,” which does not tell us the diversity of thought, experience and philosophical stances of the individual candidates, in the broader arena of our children’s education, funded by our tax dollars.
Understanding these philosophies is crucial since the board, once elected, may not be able to get our opinions on each and every issue they act on, on each and every program they consider adding or removing. Evaluating the individuals, rather than the groups, and figuring out who fits our individual philosophies may also help heal our divisions.
Centre Daily Times, May 1, 2009
Several days ago, one of the candidates running for the SCASD school board knocked at my door. He introduced himself, and asked me if I had already made up my mind. Since I had a lot of questions and it was a cold night, my husband and I asked him to come in.
He was gracious enough to spend a lot of time talking with us. We got some idea of why he was running, his general philosophy of education and what he favored instead of the current high school construction plan. He favored two schools, had an idea of where the second school could be located, but said he would be responsive to community input on all options. He also said he would use technology to offset the costs of building a second school.
One example he gave us - for advanced courses with smaller enrollments and “motivated” students, teachers could physically teach a course at one school, which would be telecast to the second school. However, he did not elaborate on how we would choose which school would have the teachers, and which the technology – or how this option would impact the learning of these “motivated” students.
When he mentioned that taxes would be going up 9 percent if the current board continued, I told him that I had understood it differently. That 9 percent was only the figure for the maximum amount that taxes could be raised to – not the amount that taxes were definitely going to be raised to. His clarification that this was indeed true, gave me confidence in my assessment of the situation.
As we said good night, we appreciated the face time with him, giving us a better idea of him as a potential school board member – and a better basis on how to vote. To some extent, the recent coverage about the Centre County League of Women Voters Candidates Night held on April 25, 2007, in the CDT, provided us this face time with other candidates too. I was happy to see that the candidates’ positions on issues other than the High School renovation were reported on. About 60 people attended the event, and many more saw it on TV.
For those of us who missed it, the event will be telecast again on Channel 7 (CGTV) on May 2 at 10 am, May 3 at 9 pm, May 5 at 1 pm, May 8 at 12 am and May 10 at 2 pm. Further, candidate interviews can be viewed on Channel 98 (CETV) on May 2 at 6 pm, May 3 at 6 pm and May 6 at 8 pm, May 10 at 4 pm and May 12 at 5:30 pm. For more information on these events in the following weeks, you could go to http://centreconnect.org/index.html, and check the weekly schedule of CETV (Channel 98) and CGTV (Channel 7) or call 238-5031, if you wanted a copy of the programs.
We each need to use these opportunities to tune in to the individual candidates and go beyond the simplistic reduction of “Go” versus “Stop/Change,” which does not tell us the diversity of thought, experience and philosophical stances of the individual candidates, in the broader arena of our children’s education, funded by our tax dollars.
Understanding these philosophies is crucial since the board, once elected, may not be able to get our opinions on each and every issue they act on, on each and every program they consider adding or removing. Evaluating the individuals, rather than the groups, and figuring out who fits our individual philosophies may also help heal our divisions.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Voting in the Primaries
Originally Posted in Common Threads Blog
Centre Daily Times, April 12, 2009
In Pennsylvania, both political parties do not allow independents to vote in the primaries, which are funded by taxpayer money.
San Francisco Chronicle Political Writer, John Wildermuth’s Blog on March 7, 2007, Dems Welcome Independent Voters, discusses the situation in CA where Democrats allow independents to vote in their primaries, but Republicans don’t. In West Virginia, Republicans allow independents to vote in their primaries, but Democrats do not. He adds that in another 21 states, including Washington, Idaho, Illinois, Ohio, Texas and Virginia – voters do not register by party, but vote whatever party’s ballot they choose on election day.
Both parties surely have strategic reasons to disallow unaffiliated, Independent voters from their primaries. However, those reasons may not always safeguard the best interests of the public.
My husband and I feel that the primaries are important this year, especially in the light of the State College Area School District Board elections. And so we decided it was time to switch our “non-affiliated” Independent status to an affiliated one.
On calling the Centre County Voter Registration and Elections office in Bellefonte, we found out that the process was fairly simple – only it had to be done before April 16, 2007.
I miss the feeling of being unaffiliated – the feeling that was I truly “independent,” casting my vote on the merits of each candidate or issue.
But for now, I am rejoicing in my ability to vote in my first primary.
And in the meantime, I am wondering if either party is considering any changes in rules in PA – that would make independents eligible to vote in the primaries?
Centre Daily Times, April 12, 2009
In Pennsylvania, both political parties do not allow independents to vote in the primaries, which are funded by taxpayer money.
San Francisco Chronicle Political Writer, John Wildermuth’s Blog on March 7, 2007, Dems Welcome Independent Voters, discusses the situation in CA where Democrats allow independents to vote in their primaries, but Republicans don’t. In West Virginia, Republicans allow independents to vote in their primaries, but Democrats do not. He adds that in another 21 states, including Washington, Idaho, Illinois, Ohio, Texas and Virginia – voters do not register by party, but vote whatever party’s ballot they choose on election day.
Both parties surely have strategic reasons to disallow unaffiliated, Independent voters from their primaries. However, those reasons may not always safeguard the best interests of the public.
My husband and I feel that the primaries are important this year, especially in the light of the State College Area School District Board elections. And so we decided it was time to switch our “non-affiliated” Independent status to an affiliated one.
On calling the Centre County Voter Registration and Elections office in Bellefonte, we found out that the process was fairly simple – only it had to be done before April 16, 2007.
I miss the feeling of being unaffiliated – the feeling that was I truly “independent,” casting my vote on the merits of each candidate or issue.
But for now, I am rejoicing in my ability to vote in my first primary.
And in the meantime, I am wondering if either party is considering any changes in rules in PA – that would make independents eligible to vote in the primaries?
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