The long-awaited report from General David Petraeus on the ground in Iraq is due in the U.S. capital this week. Does anyone else hear his name as Betray Us?

I don’t think that’s his intent. I think General Petraeus wants to tell the world the truth about the surge strategy in Iraq. He may not be allowed to do so. In recent weeks, much has been made of White House speechwriters tackling the General’s report to make it fit for public consumption. The truth doesn’t need spin-doctors.   Read more...

With the heat of the approaching summer comes an array of déja-vu-like experiences that bring me back to my previous summer in South Africa. The heat seems to intensify everything—including the way my life here smells.

The mornings are still fairly cool. Now that I sleep with my windows open, the early air is fresh, as if it, too, spent a night resting. With only leaves shifting in the dark breeze, the air smells like it has been infused with their stability and calm.   Read more...

With the internet has come an enormous amount of possibilities. We can find a huge amount of information, we can connect to people with specific interests and knowledge from around the world, we can express ourselves (virtually for free) on our personal blogs and be read in every corner of the world, we are offered numerous services for free or at almost no cost which used to be expensive and there are many other great solutions that the internet offers.   Read more...

Peacemakers come in as many varieties as there are people. On this holiday weekend, I decided to have a look at how different signs go about making peace. Try this.   Read more...

I was raised in an Anglican family. My parents loved the rituals, ceremonies and prayers of that expression of Christianity. So, in my home we had a small altar, said formal prayers throughout the day, and went to church regularly. My parents always stressed that God came first and everything else fell into place from that center point of divinity. Even though I have since stepped out of the outer structure of that faith, I find profound meaning in the hidden and universal symbolism of my religious upbringing.   Read more...

An inscribed stone above the grave where R. Buckmister (Bucky) Fuller and his wife are buried reads "Call Me Trim Tab, Bucky." Fuller, the inventor and visionary, noticed as a small child that a big ship has a small rudder within its larger rudder. It's called a trim tab, and its job is to turn the large rudder so that the large one can turn the huge ship. Bucky dedicated his life to being a trim tab - someone who would do small things that in turn could help improve society.   Read more...

“Peace—the word evokes the simplest and most cherished dream of humanity. Peace is, and has always been, the ultimate human aspiration. And yet our history overwhelmingly shows that while we speak incessantly of peace, our actions tell a very different story.”

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations. The words above are his. I agree with him. I truly believe that peace is the most cherished dream of humanity. I also believe that we are tired of dreaming of peace. Given the state of our world today, we’re not sure peace is reachable let alone actionable.   Read more...

I think highly of Ode, and have subscribed to it for several of my friends and family as well as myself. There are many brilliant ideas in Ode stories, often coupled with a feeling of optimism, which I share. While I appreciate these individual successes, alone they are not enough to prevent calamities such as international pandemics and global warming. When 1.4 million people are born into, or migrate into, urban slums each week, two thirds of humanity, 4 billion people, live off of less than four dollars a day, and the polar ice caps are rapidly melting, buying a Prius or, meditating, or supporting a new candidate is not enough. We need a global plan, a plan for humanity, to address the global problems that confront us.   Read more...

Rural Japan is always looking for ways to survive. The young are flocking to cities, leaving people in their 70’s or older to manage the fields. Plus government subsidies are down and prices are going up, so making ends meet is tough. Many areas, though, are coming up with some ingenious ways to keep afloat. In one place near where I live, for example, the farmers have given themselves an economic injection via mild tourism. They have opened their fields of sunflowers for city-ites to enjoy.   Read more...

I had a rough night last night. It happens sometimes. What it meant was that I slept in this lovely summer Sunday morning. Part of the previous evening I’d spent reading the new Ode. The words of my title are the title of a lovely article about Sesame Street and teaching peace to Middle Eastern children (see Exchange article).

Then I thought, as I lay half in and half out of sleep, what if we all could live on Peace Street? What would Peace Street look like to you? Better, what would it sound like?   Read more...