Recently I wrote an Op-ed which I sent to the Burlington Free Press. I was very surprised when they printed it. Here's a link.

One of the comments posted by readiers in the online edition referred to me as being anti-war, but they used the term as if it were a bad thing to be. That's so crazy to me.

This morning I feel inspired to put together an episode of Paradigms approaching the topic of Peace by interviewing people from different spiritual backgrounds and traditions. I am looking for people who would be willing to be interviewed. If you are interested please email me. If you know someone who you think may be interested, please share my contact information with them. If you have a suggestion for me of someone to contact, please email me.

The episode will air on December 20 so it would be good to get these interviews in motion. Thank you!

Today is sunny and warm. The trees are almost bare. There is the smell of wood smoke in the air (alas from the homes of others, here we heat with oil).

In conversations with friends I hear something similar to what I am experiencing. Life is very much one day at a time. While people have plans for the future, there is less emphasis on plans and more on what is happening right now. It's like, the dysfunctions in the world are pushing people towards a more zen approach to life. I find that interesting.

This week my back did a tweak, but what's really cool is it didn't freak me out (it hurt!) and I did some postures which can help and they did! After 5 or 6 days I can stand straight and walk with no problems. I am sore, but that's no big deal. Yay!

My thoughts this week have been somewhat focused on an idea I have, which I have shared with friends and which I am assured is not possible right now, but I will share it here anyway.

The idea is, what if everyone took a day off from being hostile? Or even an hour? What if we all agreed to refrain from any hostile behavior for 5 minutes, at the same time, around the world? It seems so obvious to me that we could do this, but my astrologer friend tells me that the Pisces in my chart gives me this facility with imagination, and a therapist friend tells me that there are still lots of people, out of the nearly 7 billion of us, who still need to act out their aggression, who are damaged in ways that make that still a part of their character.

They are both right. I do have a very vivid and expansive imagination, I always have. And it's clearly true, there are people who don't seem to have the ability to not act out.

But but but...just 5 minutes? Could we have 5 minutes on Earth where by agreement no one hits or bombs or shoots or cuts or screams at anyone?

I make myself laugh sometimes.

P.S.

It is a beautiful sunny Saturday in Vermont. It's warmish, the leaves are falling, the garden is now only providing kale and mustard greens. I brought in the butternut squash this week...some of them more than 2 feet long!

I am finishing up the fourth week of my news fast. I visited a couple of sites today, and found the information to be so toxic I didn't read a lot. My mood continues to be better. No news really IS good news!

I am focused on this; all of the stuff we've been saying is unsustainable IS unsustainable. It is falling apart. We don't need to tear apart the bogus economy, the war machine, corrupt government. It is all in the process of self-destructing. We, or at least I, am better off building ways to live that do not depend on the capitalistic paradigm. What a relief! I don't have to be in a fight against the empire, the empire is killing itself. I think, instead, I will just keep living a magical life, loving Earth and life, seeing friends, doing work I believe in, and all that good stuff.

What about you? What are the weighty things that drag you down, can some of them be released? What do you WANT to focus on?

P.S. Tomorrow night's Paradigms is amazing! If you love Jazz or wish you loved Jazz, tune in!!

A couple of entries ago I took Vermonter Peter Galbraith to task for continuing to support the war in Afghanistan, and specifically for supporting the proposed troop increase. I was pretty pointed about it and alliterated to spitting on him.

This week Peter Galbraith was officially fired from the UN for publicly stating his belief that the elections in Afghanistan were not clean. He also came out in opposition to the proposed troop increase.

I am very glad Mr. Galbraith has publicly stated his position, and I retract my literary spittle. What I don't understand is why he supported the war and the troop increase publicly a week or so ago and now has made a 180 degree turn.

It is extremely problematic when people working in government spout the party line. How can anyone trust government when it's public voices are dishonest? You can't have a "party line" and have honest government at the same time. People need to be able to express what they really think. How else can there be reasoned critical thinking in government?

So Mr. Galbraith I apologize for my rudeness in as much as your newly revealed position is not that of a warmonger. I just wish you'd spoken up sooner in your official capacity. Lives might have been saved.