Book Review: Letters of Note

My fiancé died more than twelve years ago and of all the things he left me, it is a box of love letters–and poems, cartoons, and crossword puzzles–I cherish most.   They run the gamut of emotions:  heartfelt, whimsical, poignant, hilarious, romantic, and are a tangible testament to our very special relationship.  Even with a wonderful new man in my life, I will cherish them always.

            Likewise when Jean died, it was the act of hand writing all those thank you cards that set me on the long, long road to healing from my unexpected loss.  The funeral home provided pre-printed thank you notes, but the act of sitting down and putting pen to mourning paper–a difficult find in the age of instant communication!–to individually thank all the people who were so kind to me after his death gave me something on which to focus.  It also allowed me to share with his friends and colleagues the personal connections he had developed with them and to acknowledge that they, too, were grieving his loss.

Because Police

Columbus joins national wave of Ferguson protests

Tuesday afternoon about 100 people gathered at the base of the Peace statute on the east side of the Statehouse to protest the Grand Jury decision to not prosecute Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Brown in the shooting death of Michael Brown. The rally was peaceful with over a dozen speakers, mostly young people,urging black and white solidarity. 

Thailand's Coup Leader Asks, "Who Put a Gun to Her Head?"

Coup leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha demanded, "Who put a gun to her head?" after ousted prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the bloodless military putsch in May seemed like "gun at my head" forcing her to submit.

Gen. Prayuth said he could harshly punish Ms. Yingluck and anyone else by banning them from leaving Thailand or using money, if they voice dissatisfied or misleading statements about his May 22 coup and current martial law regime.

"Whenever anyone causes unrest, there are rules ranging from soft to tough," Gen. Prayuth told reporters on Tuesday (November 25) when asked about Ms. Yingluck's interview.

"Some people may not be permitted to travel abroad," warned Gen. Prayuth, who is prime minister and head of the dominant National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) junta.

"The next level may be that they are banned from financial transactions," he said.

"Who put a gun to her head?" Gen. Prayuth asked, according to Wednesday's (November 26) Bangkok Post, which is Thailand's biggest English language newspaper.

PFLP soul-searching: the rise and fall of Palestine’s socialists

When news reports alleged that the two cousins behind the Jerusalem synagogue attack on 18 November were affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a level of confusion reigned. Why the PFLP? Why now?

The attack killed five Israelis and wounded others. It was, to a degree, an expected addition to a violent episode caused by police-sanctioned right-wing violence and abuse targeting the Palestinian population of the illegally occupied East Jerusalem. Much of the violence targeting Palestinians is systematic, involving severe restrictions on Palestinian movement, targeting houses of worship, and nightly attacks by Jewish mobs assailing Arabs, or anyone who may be suspected of being one. It also included the hanging, lynching and burning alive of Jerusalem Arab residents.

Palestinians responded in kind. But most of their violent responses seemed to be confined to individual acts, compelled by despair, perhaps, but certainly removed from the organized nature of armed-resistance.

Nonviolent action: Minimizing the risk of violent repression

In a recent article, full of insight, Professor Bill Quigley identified ten different illegal actions police often take 'to prevent people from exercising their constitutional rights' to take nonviolent action to address a grievance. He noted that these police tactics are commonly used by law enforcement agencies in big protests across the US. See '10 Illegal Police Actions to Watch for in Ferguson' http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-quigley/ten-illegal-police-action_b_6171964.html

I would like to complement Professor Quigley's fine article by identifying ways in which the risk of police or military personnel using illegal and violent tactics can be minimized and, in many cases, thwarted, wherever in the world the nonviolent action takes place.

RACISM: IT’S THE LAW

Smoke and fire, sirens blaring, horns honking, a sudden hail of bullets. This is what passes for the American dialogue on race and justice.

It’s hidden until it explodes.

“By 10 p.m.,” the Wall Street Journal informed us, “a St. Louis County Police squad car burned just down the street from the Ferguson Police Department, with spare ammunition ‘cooking off’ or exploding in the car.”

Those who want to shake their heads in disgust can do so. American institutional racism conceals itself so neatly from those who prefer not to see it and, of course, aren’t victimized by it. And then every so often something sets off the public trigger — an 18-year-old young man is shot and killed by a police officer, for instance — and the reality TV that is our mainstream news brings us the angry, “violent” response, live. And it’s always one side against another; us vs. them. It’s always war.

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