Excerpt: Barack Obama just nominated economist Jason Furman, 37, a visiting scholar at New York University and former Walmart defender, as his economic policy director. Let's look more closely at this brilliant and independent thinker before we dismiss him out-of-hand for supporting Walmart. (Excerpt): The question is not how to get rid of Walmart (though its size and profitability make it a convenient scapegoat for liberal anger.) Rather, it's how to make human life more equitable, more socially just, more humane, more environmentally sustainable. And how to empower everyday people, instead of consolidating wealth and power in the hands of CEOs and stockholders. (Excerpt): A walk through a Walmart isn't a walk in a parklike J. Crew or Pottery Barn. Walmart employees and shoppers are the hundred million Americans who work fulltime jobs at hourly wages in order to bring home incomes of less than $20,000 a year. You'll see the disabled, poor, uneducated, homeless, and jobless--everyday Americans--daily facing economic slavery, enduring far more struggles in a month than I meet in a year. Let's do away with their favorite store! I don't think so. (Excerpt): Their desperate situation isn't the fault of Walmart. If we must assign blame, it's every American's fault. It's just too easy and too convenient to pick on Walmart. And besides, it lets the real culprits--all of us--off the hook. Walmart pays as well or better than its community competitors--why else would people work there? Walmart offers comparable health insurance and promotes from within, which not everyone does. Walmart even lets its employees unionize when that's the law (as in Germany.) It isn't Walmart's fault that America doesn't support unions. But it is our fault. It's also our fault that we haven't demanded universal health care, public transportation, less global adventurism, a responsive government.... (Excerpt): Boycotting Walmart won't bring back the bucolic utopias of yesteryear (which never existed anyway.) It really won't. On the other hand, the first time someone offers me a shopping experience that gives me a comparable value, and even more equity, justice, and sustainability, I will absolutely jump at the chance to disloyally move my money. I just haven't been offered that opportunity yet. So come on America, get with the program. (Excerpt): Until then, you will find me shopping the friendly aisles of Walmart and Sam's Club, in solidarity with a motley bunch that looks a lot like America, getting the biggest bang for our shopping buck--you know, the good old American way.    more »

This poem (about anti-China bias in the West) appeared on the internet in March and has since gone viral, popping up on thousands of blgs and web sites, in both English and Chinese. Its authorship could not be confirmed. I think it's quite wonderful.   more »

(Excerpt): I loved the characters, humor, romance and politics in Ironman, and my husband especially enjoyed the heroism, computers, robotics, stunts, jets and action. The whole theatre, filled with middle/high-schoolers and adults, cheered and clapped when the movie ended. Amazingly enough, we hadn’t even been exploited or insulted by stupid politics, graphic sex, or gratuitous violence masquerading as entertainment.... (Excerpt): You can tell that the whole world is changing when a big-box-office action movie has as its major theme the evils of war profiteering and global weapons proliferation. Ironman simultaneously entertained and enlightened the whole crowd. Multi-faceted Robert Downey Jr. and classy Gwyneth Paltrow were at their most charming. (Excerpt): Ironman is a sweet, funny, exciting, well-made, fast-paced action movie I recommend to all who enjoy high-quality movie-making in this genre….   more »

(Excerpt): I was raised to think that fidgeting, shouting and mopping one’s brow when speaking in public was unrefined. My mom only meant to teach me how to act, but her instructions left me judgmental of other cultures and styles. I squirmed with her when Elvis Presley gyrated and grunted and sweated. Together we hated Hitler’s rants, and shrank in dismay from Khrushchev’s noisy shoe. Loud, angry, confrontive voices still do nothing for me. They feel rude and threatening. And I’m not alone in this. Maybe it’s my Calvinist streak, but I like my leaders calm, cool, and collected, like my man Barack Obama....    more »

(excerpt): Obama did have a chance to speak briefly and eloquently on the subject of the relative importance of charisma and leadership skills. When Hillary contemptuously dismissed the impact of “words” as opposed to “actions,” Obama countered by insisting that the next President’s ability to inspire the citizenry to greater personal political responsibility was essential. And he’s right. Even Barack Obama will not be able to move forward on the huge, difficult changes we need without overwhelming public backing, because, despite the current popularity of the word “change,” no one likes it. ***** The American public is gradually awakening to the realization that our next President can break political gridlock only through charismatic, trustworthy leadership. This realization is less fun for Hillary, whose many talents currently lie elsewhere.   more »

Make no mistake, only a President embodying a combination of trustworthiness, charisma, confidence, and instantaneous brilliant articulation of principled policies can lead everyday Americans into pressing Congress for sweeping policy reforms in a multitude of urgent issue-areas. A trustworthy, kick-ass leader unafraid to lead will cut through the crap and point us toward truth and away from hucksterism, using his reputation for straight-shooting to aggressively and successfully pursue policy changes....   more »

Why all the subterfuge and indirection? Let's just get down to it, be straightforward and direct: Instead of dragging U.S. troops, diplomats, politicians, reporters, and the rest of us citizens into the Middle East holocaust, why not just drop all our stupidly transparent political pretenses and hand over the whole bloody mess to the corporations? Let’s just give them all the depressing tasks related to stealing and controlling the oil, let them go ahead and divvy up all the various conquest-and-occupation tasks--and of course, the profits, too--but they were going to get those anyway. Our expensive, time-consuming national hand-wringing is such a waste. Why elaborately go through all those pointlessly unsettling motions of giving a damn, all those silly political and journalistic rituals intended I suppose to ease our way into Middle East hegemony—when our very professional corporations could get the job done much more efficiently and thoughtfully, well out of the public eye. Why should we Americans have to be involved at all (except of course a few staggeringly-wealthy shareholders, who can't help themselves.) Why should the rest of us even have to pull ourselves away from our video games and shopping and stuff to think about any of this distressing business? What does it have to do with us? It’s not like we have any illusions anymore that the war has anything to do with our consent, our safety, or our future well-being. We're clear already that we'll get nothing out of Bush’s endless war but more debts and enemies, so why must we also participate in all the suffering—or even watch it unfold? The corporations could easily buy up all their own weapons, hire and train their own militaries, attack and conquer (whomever), grab up their own oilfields, bribe and terrorize their own collaborators, subdue and exploit foreign populations, and write and produce their own media propaganda--as in fact they already do now--without the U.S. government and citizenry being so embarrassingly dragged into the whole mess to provide political cover. The corporations obviously don’t need our citizen support or even our (present-day) tax money. They've managed to move forward on their agenda quite nicely for many years without any of that. And if we're no help to them, we're certainly no bother to them, either, as we've clearly decided to roll over and play dead, asking polite permission for only a few brief opportunities to attempt to dignify our/their actions with silent moments of protest and mourning. Insufficient to maintain a shred of dignity? Then to heck with faking it. Just make it official, give them carte blanche. They're running the show already anyway. Let them just take whatever they want, however and whenever they want to, from whomever, wherever; they’re going to do it anyway, and the niceties of humanitarian and spiritual and political ideals be damned, because, don't forget, we’re still, by far, the biggest bully on the block, and so long as we are, such niceties aren't worth our trouble. Are they? Unless of course empire-building is not what America is about…. Unless of course we’re willing to risk peace, and turn our national will and resources toward cooperating with all the world’s peoples everywhere to end violence and solve our problems together, as one. (So let's just do it. Now.)    more »

(Excerpt): My husband hates politics, but when I have a nightmare, he listens kindly to my ranting. Here’s my bad dream: President Bush suddenly dies of some inscrutable injury secretly inflicted by the next President Dick Cheney, who appoints a worthless investigative commission, goes scot-free, and uses his brief presidency to orchestrate the succession of his fave cohort-in-conspiracies-against-the-Constitution, David S. Addington. (Excerpt): The few times I have inflicted my politics upon my husband, he’s listened with resigned patience. But this time he gently suggested that I might consider dreaming about something more likely to happen than Vice-President Cheney overthrowing the government.... (Excerpt): Because no one would benefit more from an assassination than Cheney and Addington…. Because no one has done more to undermine the Constitution than Cheney and Addington, however pure their intentions in amassing great power to “save America” (their way)…. Because no one has so much to answer for, or so many wolves at their door, than Cheney and Addington…. I doubt not that Cheney and Addington are deeply unsatisfied with their measly vast powers. I’m confident that they feel increasingly marginalized by their own party, and threatened by mounting opposition from Congress, the State Department, the CIA, not a few top military brass, and even by President Bush, who recently reversed many of Cheney’s war-on-terrorism policies, who apparently is drawing back from Cheney’s influence, and who may even now be feeling the first tingles of fear in Cheney’s presence…. Am I crazy even to wonder whether Cheney and Addington would actually consider using their old military or CIA contacts to quietly engineer an insider-job presidential assassination? Apparently, neither of these men has had a single qualm about wasting hundreds of thousands of lives in the Middle East to further their purposes; what difference would one more life make, when you've spent your whole life pursuing executive power and only one man stands in your way? I admit I haven't had any real experience with power politics...but I've read Shakespeare.... Cheney has deflected negative attention in the past by creating diversions. If Congress calls Cheney’s bluff regarding non-compliance with the NARA executive order (and just why is it that Bush hasn’t stepped forward to interfere with this, hmmmm...?) or if the Justice Department crowds Cheney with BAE slush fund allegations, a presidential assassination might prove as effective and timely a diversion as a war with Iran (Cheney's other all-purpose fall-back diversion.) Here’s a great comment recently posted by “razzi” in response to an internet article about Cheney: “Let's have no game-playing with a man this dangerous who's just a heartbeat away from the presidency. Hearings on his abuse of authority and war crimes need to begin immediately and need to persist for the remainder of his term so that in the event Bush is incapacitated, the case for instant impeachment will already have been built. The evidence needed for an eventual war crimes trial after his term is over also needs to be built. This is a...man who needs to be investigated, prosecuted, and punished for what he is doing to the republic.”   more »

I am so proud to say that a friend of mine wrote the following wonderful letter-to-the-editor (May 7, 2007 Frederick News-Post); in it, she said at least five things that so needed saying. She and the letter are both amazing!   more »

I wrote this little poem in my head as I tried to fall asleep beside my dear husband (who rises at 4 a.m.) unfortunately rather too early for me on this night, since I'd just attended a funny, charming and inspiring poetry-reading by Claudia Emerson, the 2006 Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry (won for her book, LATE WIFE--a delightful collection of, among other things, her metaphorical musings about not only being someone else's late (ex) wife, but also her experiences "living with" the presence of her new husband's late wife.... ) Anyway, since I couldn't sleep, I tried to pray, and when I found myself still too excited to pray, but only able to play metaphorically with the idea of my praying--with how my prayers come to me very abstractly, then swell pregnantly, taking gradual form, then, as in defiance of their weightiness, struggle and rise in softly articulating bursts, then lift off like tiny helicopters into the ether, to float, one with me, in white infinite light.... After a wrestling match between my better angels and my wish for sleep, I got up and wrote down this "poem"....   more »

(Excerpt): THE DEPARTED is a too-long slog through a repellent underworld of hopelessness, human frailty, and continual struggle. An angry, bitter old man’s cynical vision of despair and disillusionment, it mocks all human efforts to rise above past and primal influences. Its desired audience-response seems to be disgust. (Excerpt): Although THE DEPARTED offered challenging roles to talented actors and film-makers, I kept wondering, why did any of them, the immensely talented and capable Scorsese included, even bother? Why make this movie? What’s the point of pooling all that energy, creativity, and talent for such a boring, complicated, and pointless script? THE DEPARTED is neither entertaining, nor satisfying, nor thought-provoking, nor enlightening, nor any other respected goal of movie-making—unless perhaps you find pleasure in staring at cripples or ogling car wrecks. (Excerpt): Scorsese’s many clumsy attempts at youthful (Tarantinoesque?) edginess played out as merely shock-by-politically-incorrect low-life humor, inspiring only embarrassed titters. I found this film completely lacking in compassion, crass, boorish, and childishly defiant about religion, race, and responsibility. It was definitely a movie offering family values--all the wrong ones. For those hooked on action and violence who want to see positive values, start with L.A. Confidential or A History of Violence (see my review elsewhere in this blog), In The Line of Fire or The Fugitive. It can be done!    more »

Here are some comic strips about war and sexuality that I wrote, but never drew. I think they're sweet, funny, and make a point.... Do you agree?   more »

Here are some of my hobbies(painting, cartooning, etc.) as well as a self-portrait, and a portrait of me by my five-year-old friend, Alexa. Look for them elsewhere in my website to see/learn more.... Thank you for visiting my website! -eppyharmon   more »

I hope you'll click on "more" to see a political cartoon I drew this week....   more »

(Please click on "MORE" below to preview my latest comic strip, on which this essay is based....) Excerpt: I felt hurt when my childhood friends laughed at me for devoutly believing in Santa Claus, and foolish, when they later scorned me for doubting the existence of my childhood fairytale-God.... All my omnipotent, omniscient household dieties such as Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy--all solemnly attested to by the otherwise scrupulously honest adults in my life--later turned out to be a childish embarrassment, mere games and illusions swallowed only by simpletons. On the other hand, unraveling the mysteries of religion increasingly seemed to be a difficult and profound thing, to be accepted on faith, and understood only by hoarier heads than mine, perhaps in faroff adulthood.... "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" (the circular argument legitimizing the commercialized Santa by equating him with the Christian spirit of love) didn't clear up any of my confusions at all.....    more »

Among many other wonderful, critically-acclaimed foreign films I’ve seen recently through Netflix, the following are truly the best of the best….   more »

Check out my latest comic strip--about spring, gardens, pets.... Just click on the comic strip at the top, in the left column. The one below it is also new...it's about bullying.... Enjoy, and a happy Spring to all my readers everywhere..... I love reader feedback--please write to me at epharmon@adelphia.net (NOT epharmony@adelphia.net) I'll reprint your letter and share my responses with my readers. I welcome questions too. Happy Spring! - Eppy   more »

(excerpt): I recently heard someone say (on the radio?) that what men want, even more than a “hot” woman, is a warm one—an affectionate and caring one. Truly, warmth is one of the most important qualities in a friendship. (Excerpt): But it’s hard to be warm when you’re feeling frozen inside a shell of anxieties and insecurities….. (Excerpt): I’ve found that whenever I’m consciously willing to let go of my fears, and opt instead to seek, and then openly share my genuine appreciation for another’s particular gifts, miraculously, all my worries disappear; they are somehow completely replaced by my caring. It seems that there just isn’t enough “space” in my/our little lizard-brain/s for two such opposing emotions to operate at the same time. (Perhaps a more scientific-sounding explanation of this analysis will one day emerge….) (Excerpt): What I’ve learned about fear and caring—that they can’t coexist, that when you choose the one, you have to let the other go—has proved to be delightfully generalizable to many other dicey, uncertain kinds of people and relationships. (Excerpt): Noting that my relationships with women had greatly improved (I’m much closer now to my sisters, daughters, mom-in-law, and old and new female friends) I started applying my new “fear vs. caring principle” to my other intimidating relationships—because I really do want to be the kind of happy person who doesn’t separate herself, or hold herself back from the rest of humanity, but instead, likes everyone, and relates easily and comfortably (and usefully) to everyone....   more »

(excerpt): Through whispered conversations, I soon “knew” what my schoolmates “knew”—that all these kids were children of “illegals” who had snuck across the river, and who were now sneaking around in bushes and backrooms doing filthy jobs none of our parents would dream of doing, living in hovels, and probably stealing and breaking other laws too. We exchanged warnings about their poor side of town: don’t go near the San Antonio River unless you want to get knifed by a “mex”…. (excerpt): The wealthiest among my friends claimed to “own a ‘wet’ (‘wetback’) or two,” whom their parents kept hidden away on distant ranches in shacks stocked with sacks of beans, to chop cedar and clear brush in the searing sun, at the cost of pennies a day. (excerpt) :From that ragtag bunch of schoolmates of yesteryear, no doubt themselves largely parented by penniless, ignorant laborers who dared their way across the border, had come this impressive line of smiling, capable, courteous, faith-driven professionals. Where “mexicans” had previously been relegated only to San Antonio’s lowest social classes, now they were the home-care aides who tenderly washed and fed my father, the capable nurses who treated him, the orderlies who gently attended him in hospital, the capable doctors who set his broken hip, the hospice workers who comforted us, the owners of the funeral home, and the directors who helped us plan his funeral. (excerpt): Latinos now ably ran much of the city, blending in with the anglo minority attractively—and patriotically. As I hurried through busy days, helpful Latino faces sold me groceries and hardware, delivered our packages, repaired our dishwasher, patrolled the streets, and repaired phone wires. My father’s accountant was hispanic, as was his attorney....   more »

(Excerpt): The fact that anyone could enjoy this movie on the level of a simple, poignant, romantic comedy should not detract from its value as a multifaceted meditation upon the human challenges inherent in connecting with any “other”—whether in “translating” one’s self to another, or in meaningfully “translating” another’s mysterious mumblings and gestures in our own direction. Far too often, we are left feeling all alone in the world throughout most of our lives, feeling quite “lost in translation.” (Excerpt): Bill Murray’s unique talents are all on glorious display, as are Scarlett Johannsen’s equally bounteous ones, which have an umplumbable feel to them. She defiantly withholds an illusive, precious, sensuous little secret—like Garbo’s, like Monroe’s—whose unveiling the world will breathlessly await forever. Casting Johannsen, like casting Gwyneth Paltrow, will elevate any movie. Only great direction can account for the consistent quality of all the other "smaller" performances.... (Excerpt): Lost in Translation is perfectly titled, because Copolla shines her tragicomic vision on the challenges each of us, no matter how talented or well-intentioned, face in communicating, caring, and empathizing across the mile-high/-wide/-deep chasm of human individual differences. Copolla’s laser gaze scintillates not only cultural barriers such as language and custom, but universal obstacles as well—differences in gender, age, social class, lifestyle, goals, values, interests, backgrounds, personalities—and even the molehills and mountains of distance and time....(Excerpt): I cannot imagine a soundtrack more thoughtfully selected or edited in support of the shifting impressions, emotions, and experiences Coppola develops in each new scene... (Excerpt): I lived for a few childhood years in Tokyo during the American post-war occupation, and took away beautiful, evanescent impressions, so perhaps I’m more susceptible to the delights of this movie than your typical movie-goer. Watching Lost in Translation, I'm enchanted both by remembered charms and recent technological innovations, as well as by the awkward Japanese embrace of things western.....   more »

(Excerpt): They’re crazy because they kill women and children. We could never do that, ever. Unless it was really necessary, for a just cause, and our patriotic duty. And then, we’d feel really bad about it. They wouldn’t. (Excerpt): Their whacked-out culture, with husbands veiling wives and home-schooling daughters, is definitely messed-up. There’s nothing wrong, however, with our own culture’s rates of divorce, sexual and spousal abuse, abortion, teen pregnancy, prostitution, rape, pornography, incarceration, school violence, unwed-motherhood, alcoholism, and drug and nicotine addiction. (Excerpt): They’re nuts, killing their own people. We could never do that. Except for when we kill Rebels.... And Yankees…. And attack civil rights marchers…. And lynch suspicious Negroes…. And murder homosexuals.... And shoot at race and draft rioters and college protesters…. And knife rival gang members…. And terrorize labor union strikers…. And blow away schoolmates…. And abuse prisoners…. And wives…. And children…. And gun down and burn anti-government survivalists and fundamentalists…. And take the lives of convicted murderers…. And then there’s the Unabomber’s victims…. And Timothy McVeigh’s…. And Lizzie Borden’s…. And all the murderers and serial killers….   more »

My father's delightful response to thunder-and-lightning storms and big windstorms was to pour himself a drink, pull a chair up to the window, and watch all the excitement of nature's beautiful fury! My mom always told me to look for the good and beautiful in weather, because you can't do ...   more »

(Comments on Zzzzippeedee Dooohhh Daaahhhh....): What a difference perspective makes.... Whenever I'm feeling blue or resisting something that just "is," I try to remember to ask God for another way of looking at the person or situation--and I always receive what I ask for (it helps to pay attention and be ready for the answer.) I drew this comic strip soon after one of those happy moments when I'd received such an answer to a prayer. I remember feeling resentful, feeling like an old ugly lonesome drudge, about some housework I had to do, and praying, as I looked out the window, for another way of seeing my present situation. Suddenly I focused on a bird "working" for her brood, but nothing could have been more natural, beautiful, purposeful, or right than that little brown bird doing her thing for her family. Renewed with my wonderful answer to my prayer, I went back to work--this time joyfully.   more »

(Two) Scenes We'd Like To See....

 

 

(Excerpt): Both George Bush and Osama Bin Laden are vilified in various cultures as inhuman heartless killers, while other cultures hero-worship them as charismatic and patriotic leaders whose just causes “force” them to manfully take up arms—whether by terrorism or military force—to achieve their political aims. (Excerpt): Popular media in all nations dehumanize public enemies, then often turn around and just as thoroughly and miraculously restore them to dignity and respectability during political détentes. I recall my astonishment, moral conflict, and deep embarrassment, when the evil Russians I’d been so carefully taught to indignantly and self-righteously hate and fear, magically became our homeboys overnight. The same thing happened, of course, with the “Krauts” and the “Japs,” who, just as we were assured by our government after a terrible war, turned out to be, really, just like us. I’d like to think the same thing will happen, sooner rather than later, between Islam and the West. (Excerpt): I wish these two particular men could learn to resolve their differences without violence. They remind me of unsocialized playground children, throwing sand in each others’ faces, playing with their war toys, acting like swaggering thugs and cowards in turn, always foolish and hurtful to all around them. I wish they would grow up and solve their problems like civilized adults. (Excerpt): So many innocents have endured so much tragic death and destruction, on both sides, for so many years. For what…?! (Excerpt): I abused the current popularity of Brokeback Mountain to make my political points. However, while I’m sure that a week of roughing it alone/together in the mountains would create dialogue, understanding, and maybe even camaraderie between these two men, I’m confident that they’re both firmly and happily set, by now, in their hetero ways. Although, to be sure, nothing surprises me anymore. Maybe someday we really will see these two happily mountain biking together in Afghanistan.... You may call me a dreamer, but I’m not the only one….    more »

(Excerpt): Dictionaries offer two definitions of “peacemaker": someone who settles disputes and problems by negotiating and mediating, and a second kind of “Peacemaker”—a Colt single-action revolver popular during the late nineteenth century. (Excerpt): American voters keeps bringin’ on the gunslinger version of peacemaker—belligerent, reactionary leaders who turn taxpayers’ pockets inside-out to fund their immense arsenals, endless wars, unwieldy spy bureaucracies, and sprawling armed forces, who make no one’s day--and untold enemies--with their cocky boy-cowboy approaches to diplomacy. I want new leadership that will keep the peace, not disturb it. (Excerpt:) We don’t need any more moral bankrobbers who stare down imagined enemies at the point of a gun. We need spiritual political leadership in the mold of Gandhi, Mandela, and King, peacemakers with faith in the power of love, and the moral courage necessary to bring the world together, who will establish a cabinet-level Department of Peace, work to keep our nation in harmony with all God’s children in every nation, and help secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves, our posterity, and all mankind. Yippee-ki-yay, brother.   more »

Sing this song to the tune of "Jesus loves the little children...." (Click "more" below for a more organized look....) We’re so sick of all the fighting/ Sick of wars around the world/ Red and yellow black and white/ Stop the fighting, it’s not right/ If you love the little children of the world/ Won’t you put away your weapons/ They just hurt our moms and dads/ All our friends and family too/ 'Til we don’t know what to do/ If you love the little children of the world/ Won’t you try to solve your problems/ Please take turns and share your toys/ You don’t have to fuss and fight/ ‘Cause it hurts us most, that’s right/ If you love the little children of the world/ Let us play with other children/ Go to school and sing our songs/ If you let us learn and play/ You’ll be glad you did, some day/ If you love the little children of the world/ Please believe in one another/ Trust that others are like you/ Everybody needs a hand/ All together we can stand/ If you love the little children of the world/ Please remember all are brothers/ Doesn’t matter where we’re from/ Different people can be one/ Let’s be friends with everyone/ If you love the little children of the world/ Won’t you stay at home and raise us/ Don’t go marching off to war/ We need help and we need care/ Need to know that you’ll be there/ If you love the little children of the world/ Won’t you try to keep your temper/ Doesn’t matter, wrong or right/ Please be gentle, please be mild/ Then you’ll never hurt a child/ If you love the little children of the world/ Hating hurts the little children/ Children all around the world/ Suffer day and suffer night/ Stop the hating, it’s not right/ If you love the little children of the world/ If they start a war tomorrow/ Please just tell them you won’t go/ Please stay home and care for me/ Oh how happy we will be/ If you love the little children of the world/ Never hurt another person/ Even though life seems unfair/ Even when your heart is blue/ We’ll hold hands and see it through/ If you love the little children of the world/ Please don’t be one of the bad guys/ Never let that guy be you/ All the guys who blow things up/ How we wish they would grow up/ If you love the little children of the world/ Please don’t ever hurt another/ Sad things happen when you do/ Find a way to end the fight/ Find a way to make things right/ If you love the little children of the world/ Won't you please just solve your problems/ Talk them over till you do/ Take your time and stay up late/ There’s no hurry, we can wait/ If you love the little children of the world/ Fighting only makes it harder/ Try to share and share alike/ There’s enough for all, it’s true/ When we do what we should do/ If you love the little children of the world/ Won’t you stop all of the hurting/ All the crying and the pain/ Help us keep our eyes and hands/ Let us live in our own lands/ If you love the little children of the world/ It’s not really so confusing/ You can do it if you try/ Do as you would want them to/ It’s not really hard to do/ If you love the little children of the world/ Hold your ears and never listen/ To the mean things people say/ You don’t have to be afraid/ We’re a family God has made/ If you love the little children of the world/ Help us build a world for children/ All the children of the world/ Build a world of peace and joy/ Safe for every girl and boy/ If you love the little children of the world/   more »

A few weeks after 9/11, my local newspaper published my (pre-blog) "solutions" and comments about "what we should do next/now...." Excerpt: I would figure out which American foreign policies have resulted in so much global hatred and criticism, and change them....I would not assume that everyone wants us to come over and tell them how to live....I would offer help to others in reaching whatever goals are important to them....I would give no support to government policies and decisions that legitimize treating non-Americans in ways we Americans would not wish to be treated....I would use this terrible, tragic attack as an opening to form global alliances based in respect and love for human life, human freedom, and human interests everywhere....I would not use the arguments of "stablity" or "American interests" or protection of our citizenry to legitimize unjustly invading, occupying, imposing on, or exploiting any other peoples, or to create or support undemocratic governments favorable to American interests....If some of the money we spend on military and intelligence were spent on kindness, diplomacy, and sharing, we'd be a safer, richer, happier country....I pray in the name of (9/11's) most direct sufferers that their memory will not be disrespected by using them as an excuse to start World War III....   more »

Excerpt: This is a little short story I drafted a while ago about a mother/adolescent-daughter relationship. It's fiction, but like all fiction, there's a bit of autobiographical truth to it, too. It's all about how hard it is, especially within families (where we get so stuck within our own shared histories, neuroses, and mistakes) to learn, instead, to love, listen, accept, grow, and change.... Here's the beginning of the story: "I search her face across the table for its usual reassuring perfections, but the comforting illusion of Claire the Exquisite eludes me today. She's talking warily-but at least she's talking, that's good. So often we don't talk at all. Such a tiff in the car on the way over here, about nothing. And then we both laughed at that sign announcing "Reliable Junk"--our own private shared brand of hilarity. We laugh at all the same things. Why waste even a minute picking at each other?" ...   more »

Excerpt: Click on my latest political cartoon, the top one on the left side of this page, called "Success Redefined." Always, the first victim of war is truth.... At various times, Secretary Rumsfeld has worked hard to redefine the terms, "torture," "insurgency," "victory," "winning," "enemy," "mission accomplished," "terrorism," and other words of war to make them fit his needs....   more »

Excerpts: Bushie and Harrie were pardners/Oh lordy, how they cleared brush/They swore to be true to each other/Then Bushie gave her the brush/He was her man/But he done her wrong.../I couldn't tell you no story/I wouldn't tell you no lie/Ol' Georgy Porgy ain't studyin' no justice/He just wants his puddin' and pie/He done kissed that girl/And now he's makin' her cry....   more »

Click on my latest posting, a quiz/drawing/political cartoon called "soldier," on the left side of this blog. So what do you think?   more »