Iraq War

We are now five years into the war in Iraq. The death toll of American soldiers has reached at least 4-thousand. The numbers grow each day. These men and women, sons and Fathers, daughters and Mothers are the new heroes of our republic and not only should they be honored, but so too their families for they bare the burden of a broken heart and the emptiness of a loved one gone.
It is not possible for us to recall at once all the names of those who died on the field of battle in this war. A warriors death should always have the dignity of a name said with honor. Yet all we can do is trust that someday a new etched roll will be created and memorialized in granite as other lists of heroes have been in the past.
It is not much, but it’s what we do and it is sacred.
So in this sixth year of the war, whether you agree with the war or not, let us honor those who served and serve. Send your prayers of protection for those still in harms way and shout your appreciation to the men and women of our armed services and send your good thoughts of compassion to the families left behind. They will feel it.

A rite of spring






Africa’s HIV epidemic

Some thoughts on one of the greatest medical emergencies and moral dilemmas of the modern era.
We have a continuing big problem on this planet.
It’s AIDS. HIV infection.
22.5 million of the 40 milion people worldwide infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa. Only one percent of those who need anti-aids drugs get them. The cost is too high.
Already there are 11 million orphans.
In fact the professionals needed to confront the disease are dying faster than new ones can be trained.
The moral dilemma for the industrialized nations is why have we ignored Africa and the AIDS epidemic for such a long time and let it fester to genocidal proportions. Why are we not, as human beings, seeing this as a pandemic emergency. If we look at it only as governments, as drug companies, as it being far away, as it being not my problem, a dispassionate venue emerges. If we look at it as fellow human beings, then the suffering, the pathos, the inhumanity of it all is shocking and shameful that we let it happen.
I wonder if greed or to be nicer, the profit margin, has anything to do with it.
I wonder if race has anything to do with it.

Molly The Cat

Some thoughts on Molly the cat.

It was quite a story a couple of years ago; the rescue of Molly the cat trapped behind a deli basement wall in New York City.

There was some criticism of the media for spending too much time on the rescue of a cat and not on other stories. The story, however, was important because it symbolized and validated the sanctity of life, any life. Why else would so many people, spent so much time, energy and effort to save stranded cat. It took two weeks to finally rescue Molly stuck behind a concrete wall.

It reminded me of a story in 1989 when two baby gray whales were trapped in the ice in Alaska. To rescue them, contentious governments ( then the US and USSR ) put aside mistrust, environmentalists and oil workers suspended argument to labor together for a common good and Eskimos did everything they could do to save what they normally hunt.
Both stories, two little gray whales or one little cat named Molly remind us that the essence of life is cooperation, not competition and compassion not conflict.