A Simple Report.

From the Human Rights Watch: ” … Waterboarding. Mock executions. Forced nudity. Shackling wrists and ankles in painful,stress positions. Locking someone for days in a confined, dark,coffin-like box. Threatening people, naked and hooded, with power drills, rape, and death. Exposing human beings to continuous loud music and light. Depriving them of sleep. Threatening to harm a person’s family...”

Why of the 6,000-page report compiled by the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence only 525-page were released?

A report that detailed the actions of CIA officials.

A report that took over 5 years and 40 Million to be completed. $40 Million of our money.

Why?

A Decalogue for Peace (II)

 (Edward Hicks, The Peaceable Kingdom 1826)

1. Say you are sorry
2. Put yourself at the periphery
3. Be courageous
4. Trust. Even if it hurts
5. Be loyal
6. Take a chance
7. Understand who is different
8. Don’t judge
9. Show your hands
10. Again. Talk about Peace

I AM NIGERIAN (Not only Charlie)

Today  I am also Nigerian (Not only Charlie).

Boko-Haram left bodies scattered everywhere in villages around northern Nigeria, killing as many as 2,000 people.

I don’t know their names.

That’s why today I am also Nigerian.

Ricominciamo…

(Constance Mayer, The Dream of Happiness,1819)

…dalle cose migliori.

Ricominciamo da un mondo più’ gentile e franco. Ricominciamo a parlare l’uno con l’altro. Ad ascoltarci.

Ricominciamo a ridere e proviamo ad essere aperti con chi e’ diverso da noi.

Ricominciamo a perdonare gli errori fatti contro di noi, quelli piccoli certamente ma anche (ogni tanto) quelli grandi, quelli che fanno male.

Ricominciamo a rispettare gli anziani, i malati, i bambini e i deboli. Anzi facciamo di più’: proviamo ad amarli.

Ricominciamo ad amare il mondo e non solo noi stessi che poi non siamo così’ importanti.

Ricominciamo ad essere umili di cuore e a guardare il mondo con occhi da bambini invece che da cinici mercenari.

Ricominciamo a lavorare per la pace. In qualsiasi modo. Anche dicendo ‘scusa’ di tanto in tanto.

Forza allora,

Ricomnciamo.

A Decalogue for Peace

1. Listen
2. Accept diversity
3. Learn
4. Learn how to laugh about yourself
5. Give
6. Be the last to leave
7. Break bread
8. Be kind
9. Be strong
10. Talk about peace

9-10 November 1938. Kristallnacht (Vergessen Wir Nicht).

November 9-10, 1938.

Let’s not forget the pain and injustice. They do not age.

Never.

You Are My Sister

REYHANEH JABBARI, today you are my sister.

She was hanged by the Iranian regime for defending herself against who tried to rape her.

You are my sister, like all the women who have suffered because of men.

Considerations of a Tired Man

The world outside seems like a crazy merry-go-around.

Severed heads. Shattered countries. Helpless presidents. Girls are raped like it’s nothing – in India and Sudan it can seem like it’s endemic. And the world is silent.

Chaos. Do we even know what we are anymore?

Everyone’s yelling about something; we’ve learned to bark better than the dogs. And the dogs are abandoned like they are trash.

Suffering. Children are used as human shields; it’s happening now in Syria and not too long ago in Gaza.

The North hate the South. The South swears the North is a plague. The Whites kill the Blacks. The Blacks murder other Blacks -and sometimes Whites, too. Ninety percent of the world is starving. Elephants are nearly extinct and tigers are killed to make throw rugs.

Priests speak of God, but they turn their backs and leave the little nuns in Burundi to do the work that Christ has asked of us: to love one another.

And we’re all waiting for the iPhone 6.

At Some Point…

At some point we just need to stop.

Just Stop Hate.

Imagine…

 

Everywhere: From Gaza to Missouri, From Iraq to my backyard in Chicago