Numerous Narratives

We've always defined conflict fairly broadly from ideological conflict to troops on the ground. For quite some time we've talked about a focus on Palestine. Certainly no one can deny that Israel is conflict with Palestine and no one can deny that the U.S. is the largest supporter of Israel internationally - not only financially, but also in the United Nations where the United States is one of the very few countries that does not recognize Palestine as a state. ~ Jon Rubin People do not only li...

"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses." ~ Malcolm X "The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history." ~ George Orwell "The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the w...

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." ~ Albert Schweitzer "Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions." ~ Dalai Lama "The key to happiness is achievable dreams." ~ Nicholas Sparks "We begin from the recognition that all beings cherish happiness and do not want suffering. It then becomes both morally wrong and pragmatically unwise to pursue only one's own happiness, oblivious t...

"The facilities for advanced education must be evened out and multiplied. No one who can take advantage of a higher education should be denied this chance. You cannot conduct a modern community except with an adequate supply of persons upon whose education, whether humane, technical, or scientific, much time and money have been spent." ~ Winston Churchill "Herein lies the real value of education. Advanced education may or may not make men and women more efficient; but it enriches personality, ...

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left." ~ Bertrand Russell "So long as there are men, there will be wars." ~ Albert Einstein "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." ~ Albert Einstein "They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason." ~ Ernest Hemingway ...

"That is the beauty of cancer, it tells you that your days are limited, that you could die at any point. It is that perspective that allows you to live a better life while you're here." ~ Shelley Hamlin "Ninety percent of cancers are curable in stage one. We spend billions of dollars and over 40 years searching for a cure, and we're not really that close. So why aren't we teaching people the only cure we have now? Early detection is one shty year, versus the rest of your life." ~ Yael Cohen "...

"If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like hell." ~ Lance Armstrong "It amazes me that we spend 20% of the US budget on defense and far-off wars, and not on fighting cancer, disease, and aging." ~ Zoltan Istvan "The Emperor of All Maladies" is a powerful reading experience, especially given how de...

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. "The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory for Osama bin Laden, whose announced goal was to bankrupt America by drawing it into a trap. The 2011 military budget - almost matching that of the rest of the world combined - is higher in real term...

The story of the human race is war. Except for brief and precarious interludes there has never been peace in the world; and long before history began murderous strife was universal and unending. ~ Winston Churchill War remains the decisive human failure. ~ John Kenneth Galbraith The history of humans for 1000s of years have a complex relationship with war. Our history is filled with conflicts, violence, and war especially when resources, survival, or ideological beliefs are at stake. Even...

"Only the dead have seen the end of war." ~ Plato "War does not determine who is right - only who is left." ~ Bertrand Russell "War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over." ~ William Tecumseh Sherman "Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die." ~ Herbert Hoover In war, everything shifts and distorts our expectations. War seems clear at a distance, but it becomes complex and confusing up close. Even with all ...

In a multipolar world, there must be more powers capable of taking responsibility, the US and Europe must be able to unite to achieve peace in the Middle East. ~ Dominique de Villepin I don't like this vision that Turkey is successful because it is as successful as the western powers in economic terms. But I do think they are trying to find a new space in the multi-polar world, and this is what I am advocating. I don't think that Muslims have an alternative model. ~ Tariq Ramadan In a polyph...

Imagine a world where every country, big or small, has a say. This is what people mean when they talk about a “polyphonic world.” Instead of a world run by a few powerful nations, like the United States, China, Russia, NATO, and the UN Security Council, it’s a world where many voices and ideas shape global decisions. In this world, different countries, cultures, and perspectives work together, each adding a unique perspective. Some countries, like Russia and China, like this idea. They often ...

"If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place." ~ Margaret Mead "My wartime experiences developing a code that utilized the Navajo language taught how important our Navajo culture is to our country. For me that is the central lesson: that diverse cultures can make a country richer and stronger." ~ Chester Ne...

"Human resources are like natural resources; they're often buried deep You have to go looking for them; they're not just lying around on the surface You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves." ~ Ken Robinson "Human resources are the most valuable assets the world has. They are all needed desperately." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt "Our greatest resource is the human resource." ~ Mal Fletcher It's not gold, not diamonds, not oil, and not drugs; the most important resource to a na...

"Political power intoxicates the best hearts. No man is wise enough, nor good enough, to be trusted with much political power." ~ Hans F. Sennholz "The combination of economic and political power in the same hands is a sure recipe for tyranny." ~ Milton Friedman "Where is the justice of political power if it executes the murderer and jails the plunderer, and then itself marches upon neighboring lands, killing thousands and pillaging the very hills?" ~ Khalil Gibran Political power is the a...

"Another longstanding foreign policy flaw is the degree to which special interests dictate the way in which the "national interest" as a whole is defined and pursued.... America's important historic relationship with Israel has often led foreign policy decision-makers to defer reflexively to Israeli security assessments, and to replicate Israeli tactics, which, as the war in Lebanon last summer demonstrated, can turn out to be counter-productive." ~ Samantha Power The erosion of globalism, on...

HEADLINES The Israeli military has repeatedly attacked medical workers and healthcare facilities in Lebanon. Gaza: Israel’s Northern Offensive Endangering Hundreds of Thousands of Civilians. International Court Rulings Require EU Action on Israel and Palestine; Sanctions, Trade Measures, Support for ICC Crucial to Comply with International Law. Lebanon: Israeli Strikes on Financial Group are War Crimes; Hezbollah-Affiliated Civilian Institutions Not Lawful Military Targets. Lebanon: Israel...

Clausewitz said "war is merely the continuation of politics by other means." In other words, political objectives always drive war, and that strategy should coordinate military actions with political goals. In Ukraine, Russia's actions are shaped by long-term political goals of influence, while Ukraine aligns with Western powers and willing and open to being part of Western Europe and North American sphere of influence. In the Middle East, conflicts reflect deep political, economic resources,...

In the cold shadow of recent crises, Europe stands exposed, confronted by an undeniable truth: it is tragically unprepared. A European war lurks at the borders, pandemics arise like unwelcome spectres, and the earth itself shudders beneath us—yet we linger in a dangerous slumber of complacency. Why did NATO countries keep pushing Ukraine to join as a junior member of NATO on the doorstep of its historic, interlinked big brother, Russia? NATO viewed Ukraine’s potential membership as a...

Moscow’s warning to the United States is a dire one, cloaked in a tone that forewarns the gravity of history’s darkest days. Dmitry Medvedev, once Russia’s president, suggests that America’s leaders are dangerously underestimating Russia's resolve. He invokes Henry Kissinger’s wisdom as a shadow of what is lost, pointing to the West’s lack of insight, and the hubris that blinds them to the true stakes. Medvedev’s words are not mere rhetoric but a declaration of survival—a grim vow that ...

"The predominant yardstick of your government is not human rights but national interests." ~ Breyten Breytenbach "The reputation of those countries which cater to the foreign policy interests of other states at the expense of their own national interests will go down regardless of how they explain their actions." ~ Vladimir Putin "In some cases, in order to protect global issues some sacrifice for national interest is worth it in the long run. Global warming, these things, they suffer everybo...

Intuition is like a gut feeling that tells us what might be true. We rely on intuition when we sense something isn’t right in a certain place, such as the Gaza Strip. It’s a valuable ability that we, as human beings, have, but it’s not always easy to explain or fully understand. The mass starvation happening in Gaza, imposed by the Israeli government and supported by the United States and the European Union, is leading to illness and death among Palestinians of all ages. Yes, war causes starva...

Being called "smart" is usually higher than average intelligence. The individual understands complex ideas and grasps information quickly. "Hard-working" people often achieve long-term goals, even in challenging fields, because of their perseverance and resiliency. "Clever" individuals are often quick problem-solvers and adapt well to new dynamic, unpredictable life situations or creative fields, where adaptability is needed. "Street-smart" people can read people, understand social dynamics,...

"Human dignity is the same for all human beings: when I trample on the dignity of another, I am trampling on my own." ~ Pope Francis "We need to realize that poverty doesn't only consist of being hungry for bread, but rather it is a tremendous hunger for human dignity. We need to love and to be someone for someone else" ~ St. Teresa of Calcutta "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they ca...

Just thinking... of my younger years... I just noticed my mother’s and father’s reading habits. My parents were extremely voracious readers and connoisseurs of literature. They would read and discuss at least 12 or more nonfiction books and international papers on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. In total, we must have hosted 50 to 100 writers and thinkers—Indigenous and Black intellectuals—at our humble home over a 5-year span. It was amazing how many individuals with so many interesting ideas ...

"Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it" ~ Mahatma Gandhi "Looked at objectively, it is clear that the overwhelming majority of civilian deaths resulting from political violence are produced by what should be understood as "state terror." Terrorism also serves as an excuse to avoid diplomacy and the peaceful resolution of conflict." ~ Richard A. Falk "We usually speak of the Jewish-Christian civilization - perhaps, the time has come, especially with regard to th...

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens." ~ Khalil Gibran "Nurture your mind with great thoughts" ~ Benjamin Disraeli "Have fun, work hard and money will come. Don't waste time - grab your chances. Have a positive outlook on life. When it's not fun, move on." ~ Richard Branson Life is an ongoing series of challenges, battles, and struggles, and the...

I think the International Criminal Court could be a threat to American security interests, because the prosecutor of the court has enormous discretion in going after war crimes. ~ John Bolton Has the international criminal court avoided opening an investigation into alleged war crimes in Gaza due to political pressure. The answer is an unequivocal “no”. As prosecutor of the ICC, I reject any suggestion of this in the strongest terms. ~ Fatou Bensouda There are arrest warrants for Israeli P...

The world is watching the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... Unfortunately approved by the USA and UK of war crimes for the past 2 years. Now the world is watching and understanding that the US American government will give Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government full support for whatever Israeli military does. Multiple times, the American government, specifically the Biden presidency and the White House spokesperson has told the world unequivocally the United States of America ...

"I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have." ~ Leonardo da Vinci "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas A. Edison "Work is love made visible." ~ Khalil Gibran Working for people versus working with people is about power, autonomy, and collaboration. When we think about working for a manager for a so-called boss or an owner, we're looking at traditional structures of working roles d...