Richard Evers
The destructive power of words
There has been such an incredible amount of violence, destruction and, yes, murder (as I write, over 8,500 and counting) in Gaza since the Hamas attack - not to mention over the many previous decades - I think one has to be either numb or willfully blind not to be shocked and cry out "No! Not in our name!" the way over 400 arrested protestors, including members of Jewish Voice for Peace, did at Grand Central Station in New York City just recently. Many around the world are now calling it genocide.
But I want here to focus upon another kind of destructive power: the power of words, specifically some of the lies that have contributed to and continue to fuel the savage violence being perpetrated upon the doomed people of Gaza (and the West Bank).
Misplaced public spending, from outer space to Putney Road
We spend 500 times more money to explore cold, dead space than to understand our wildly beautiful oceans. And we’re paying for unnecessary repaving while we suffer from heat waves, droughts, and floods around the world — including, of course, here in Vermont.
I don't know about you, but I'm feeling overwhelmed by the cascade of bleak news this year from around the world. Incomprehensibly huge forest wildfires in Canada (like the ones in California, or Australia a few years back, remember?). Heat waves, droughts, and floods around the world - including,
Noble thoughts from a Supreme Court justice of yore
Thanks to the wonders of interlibrary loan, I'm reading The Place No One Knew, a 1963 Sierra Club book by photographer Eliot Porter, about the incomparable Glen Canyon in Utah just before it was flooded and lost forever, thanks to U.S. Department of the Interior and the thirst of...
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Biden could solve this crisis not with appeasement, but with a fair exchange
On the March 2 broadcast of NPR's All Things Considered, I heard Linda Thomas-Greenfield, our ambassador to the United Nations (who, by the way, was described as wearing the colors of the Ukrainian flag) say about some anti-Russian resolution she and others were proposing as being part of “a battle for the soul of the world.” Give me a break, please! When the U.N., as it has many times, nearly unanimously passed resolutions condemning, say, U.S. aggression in Iraq or...
Buildup to potential conflict in Ukraine: a tragic waste of precious time, energy, and resources
Some thoughts about Ukraine: For the past few weeks I've heard pretty much nothing but sensationalist, war-fever stories in the U.S. press, including NPR and PBS (two of my main news sources). Even Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, stated recently that the media were exaggerating the threat of war. But of course it sells papers and boosts listener and viewer ratings. On Feb. 1, Amy Goodman's news show, Democracy Now!, devoted the entire hour to Ukraine. She interviewed peace activist...
Buying local is a win-win ... and win
It's spring, and I decided to spring for a new pair of Birkenstocks. I knew I wanted to buy local from the Shoe Tree, but I just couldn't resist going online to see what the cost difference might be. What a surprise! Most of the listings for the style I wanted, including on Amazon, were about $125, plus shipping. (I don't have Prime.) Then I went downtown, and the Shoe Tree had the exact style and size I was looking...
As an act of mercy, can we lift sanctions on Iran and Venezuela during COVID-19 crisis?
An open letter to Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Pat Leahy, and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch: In these unprecedented, trying times, I would like you to consider an idea, a proposal that may possibly make you smile at the absurdity that such a notion could ever become a political reality. As we marshal the vast resources of this country to counter the deadly pandemic, I'm thinking about Iran and Venezuela. Iran, of course, is undergoing a huge health crisis with suffering...