It is a law:
Violence begets nonviolence,
Like a tulip in winter,
In all places,
In all cultures.
But only those
With eyes wide open
Can see it,
In the middle of
Winter storms.
The most important turning point
for any civilization passing from darkness into light
is every moment
that a weapon passes
from someone who has no self control
and no compassion
to someone who does.…
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Reason and compassion are lovers
That give birth to our humanity,
but only when they engage
Daily, with intensity.
The more one’s mind
is drawn daily to compassion
For all sentient life,
the more it is drawn daily to develop
universal principles of behavior
that apply to all beings
Without exception,
Even very imperfect beings.
The more that reason is developed daily
the more it becomes empirically clear
that we are all the same,
in 99% of our being,
the more it becomes empirically self evident
That where we are different
it is an advantage,
Our diversity is our strength.
compassion and reason are lovers,
So that we can be.
(Photo: Cultivating Leadership)…
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GOD
An atheist leader
who is rational,
Can be more a messenger,
of God’s mercy for the powerless,
than a leader,
who bows down to God,
over the dead bodies,
of his victims.
‘Less suffering’
Is the tortured scream
of God.
An authentic smile
Is the fleeting face of God,
A single act of kindness,
The touch of Her finger.
Only when you accept death,
Can you become committed
To the renewal of life.
Only when you see democracy die,
Can you plan its rebirth.…
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America, ISIS , and Al nusra , turkey Iran
From the border of Syria
Reports indicate that the United States has come to a decision that Isis in Syria cannot be separated from Isis in Iraq in terms of stabilizing the region and national interests. It becomes essential at this point that whatever the United States does it makes a distinction between the two groups, Isis and al nusra
It is clear that Isis is mostly foreigners and they split badly with al nusra .
Al nusra is mostly Syrian. If United States attacks Al nusra it will be interpreted by the Syrian people as an attack on them. In addition, Al nusra Is vital for the defense of many innocent people from the regime.
This distinction can and must be made. With enough intelligence and Cooperation this will be easily done. The Syrian people on the ground are …
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The purpose of terrorism is to provoke a response. The purpose of the provocation of response is to create martyrs. The purpose of the creation of martyrs is an army of enthusiastic especially young men in search of glory and sex. The purpose of the creation of an army is the replacement of old political order with a new order.
The purpose of counterterrorism should be the defense of one’s population, even better, the defense of all life. The actual function of counterterrorism is the strengthening of the police state and weapons sales. The actual function of political counterterrorism by politicians is to create votes. The purpose of the creation of votes is the maintenance of the power structure and strengthening of the state.
Thus the cycle is complete. For when the counterterrorists respond with appropriate excessive violence to the bait of the terrorists both achieve their purpose. And then …
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I recently wrote a cover article reflecting on the recent war in Gaza to the newsletter published by School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.
…Practice is a messy, miserable reality that deserves its own independent study. What do we do in times of war? This has dramatically changed for me and many others in just the last year or two, where every war seems to be bringing individuals together online to a level of intimacy, collaboration, and care unprecedented, and others to a level of hatred unprecedented. Then there are shades of gray, where how you frame your disagreements, your texts, your cries, your screams, your pleas, your ruminations in the dead of night, all of it yields surprising communications across enemy lines, in all of the many and variegated enemy systems that overlap in international conflicts. A string of people from one side of the conflict becoming the only
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In war in an age of war the act of ultimate defiance is to make another human being feel wonderful.
Testosterone, gestures of kindness are semen seeds. Men get busy, it will make you inherently happy and bear you many children.
Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). A doctrine that was supposed to be about deterrence, not prophecy. #Israel#Hamas#Palestine
Mimicry, the compulsion of humans to mirror their postures, facial expressions, and enemy war cries. Most posts on FB and Twitter.
Better to deny the past in fear and embrace the present with courage than to embrace the past with courage and deny the present in fear.
…
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Very important Muslim statement on IS.
Sunni and Shiite Muslim leaders in the United Kingdom have come together to denounce the Islamic militant group ISIS in a video posted by a group called Imams Online, reports the BBC.
A statement on the Imams Online website says, “Senior British imams have come together to emphasize the importance of unity in the UK and to decree ISIS as an illegitimate, vicious group who do not represent Islam in any way.”
Click here to read the whole article.
…
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Every day in every region I meet young warriors who know not what they do, and aging warriors who regret everything they have done. I can do nothing before their folly except bear witness to humanity.
The stoics, the Epicureans, Taoists, the Sufis, the Buddhists, all feel that the real prison is the human mind. I am still thinking.
(Photo: Tom Lynn/AP)…
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SHADES OF HEAVEN
When a theologian of another religion says what you were thinking the moment before it comes out of your mouth #syria, with the Bosnian hero Father Ivo.
BIRTH
The warrior is born at 15000 feet,
With the press of a thumb.
The anti-warrior is born underneath cement,
With the press of a shovel,
Eyeing,
The first,
Grey,
Thumb.
(Photo: Now Media)…
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