I'm counting down to the New Year by looking back at some of the posts on
Scarry Thoughts that were viewed most often in 2013 . . .
and my own personal favorites . . .
#1 !!!
There has been a good sign in 2013, in that many people have become
outraged about government surveillance. A recent Pew poll found that
Americans are now more worried about civil liberties abuses than
terrorism. I believe a big question in 2014 will be whether challengers
successfully address the issue of NSA surveillance in their campaigns.
(See
What Will Election 2014 Boil Down To? )
#2
Five big realizations I'm taking away from the 2013 CODEPINK Drone
Summit "Drones Around the Globe: Proliferation and Resistance" in
Washington, DC.
(See
The 2013 DC Drones Conference: 5 Big Takeaways )
#3
Re-reading George Orwell's
1984 recently made me see at least 15 ways 2013 is like the world he describes in the book . . . .
See
2013 = 1984 ?
#4
"Although we know the end from the very beginning," says Walker, "the
story is no less compelling to watch." A man, gloriously alone (except
for his own reflection) on an ice-covered lake; the soothing pastel
colors of the distant sky; and what seems surely to be a circle he is
digging around himself with a pick-axe. A perfect parable for our headlong rush toward climate crisis?
(See
How Do You Say "Suicide Narcissus" in Chinese?)
#5
When you go to the UN website, it says,
"Welcome to the United Nations. It's your world."
Garry
Davis saw that, as long as nations are calling the shots, the way of
the world will continue to be "might makes right" and more war. The only
solution is to have a higher authority and a higher loyalty. A case in
point is the United Nations' role in stopping and prosecuting the crimes
of the United States.
Let's hope that, as the UN turns its focus to drones, it gives us something Garry Davis would have been proud of.
(See
The United Nations, Drones, and Garry Davis)
#6
October 18, 2013: A new U.N. report makes it clear that the U.S. has to report fully on all its drone attacks.
(See
2014: The Year of Transparency (for U.S. Drone Use)?)
#7
Isn't now a moment when, instead of falling back into our existing
habits of trying to change America's war-making ways, we should put our
recent experience under a microscope? And ask what we can learn from
this experience? Can we make 2014 the year that we sort the wheat from
the chaff in Congress? And get the control over war and peace back into
our own hands?
(See
Election 2014: The Moment of Truth for the US Antiwar Movement?)
#8
Cook County Jail is the perfect example of the nationwide injustice that
Michelle Alexander described in her groundbreaking book, The New Jim
Crow: mass incarceration, focused principally one people of color, in
which "crimes" (often related to drug possession or other low-level
offenses) become the mechanism for entrapping people in a cycle of
incarceration that is brutalizing and often begins a downward spiral of
lifetime discrimination.
(See
Free Them All )
#9
The biggest idea coming out of the 2013 Drone Summit? We will only deal successfully with the
crimes being committed using drones when we understand them as part of
the much larger
war against communities of color . . . .
(See
Drone Gaze, Drone Injury: The War on Communities of Color )
#10
In a 1979 essay, Isaac Asimov wrote, "I feel confident that attempts to use robots without safeguards won't
work and that, in the end, we will come round to the Three Laws." What are the laws that Asimov predicted would be used to limit the potential for injury from robots?
(See
A Modest Proposal: Debate the Drones )
And here are some of my personal favorites from 2013 . . . .
#1
I love to walk around North Pond here in Chicago and notice the asters
as September stretches into October. They make me think of my mom . . . .
(See
Asters for Eva )
#2
I believe when Jesus broke the bread and poured the wine and said
"Remember me this way," he was much more interested in encouraging us to
keep having conversations -- conversations that really
matter --
with others . . . and finding ways to be in relationship with our
neighbors . . . all the while reminding us "never underestimate the
power of food" . . .
(See
Get Outside Your Comfort Zone and Have A Conversation Today (Welcome to the Ministry))
#3
A big Hollywood production of
Ender's Game is scheduled for
release on November 1. It's a perfect opportunity for us to ask: Are we
happy seeing our schools turned into "Battle Schools"?
(See
"Ender's Game" and the Militarization of Youth: Can We Talk About This? )
#4
A group of us from St. Luke's Lutheran Church Logan Square was in
Springfield with thousands of other Illinoisans to encourage our state
legislature to pass the marriage equality bill (SB10). Even if you
weren't there, you can get a sense of what it was like -- raindrops and
all! -- thanks to the dozens of photos my friend Frank took. Enjoy!
(See
Marriage Equality Is a Human Right )
#5
In Taiwan, HHH is to film as Huang Chunming is to literature. Take, for
instance, the story, set in a fishing town on the east coast of Taiwan,
about a prostitute who determines to have a baby, and so selects
as the father a likely candidate from among her customers (most of whom
are workers in the local fishing fleet), gets pregnant, and heads back
to the tiny town in which she was born, in order to have the baby.
(See
Days for Looking at the Sea )
#6
"How can it be that no one is speaking directly to what happened?" I
wondered. "Should I say something? Is it just me? Can it be possible
that most people aren't like me, tremendously troubled by how we should
respond to what has happened in China?"
(See
Remember June 4)
#7
What would Christians think if someone proposed carving out a slice of
their Sunday services to worship the God of Entombment? Wouldn't they
think that was absurd? After all, if Christianity is anything, isn't it
the religion of "UN-entombment"?
(See
When is Christianity Going Back to Being the Religion of "UN-entombment"?)
#8
The Ames Middle School in Chicago serves a largely Spanish-speaking community. Is the militarization
of Ames anything other than a signal of what the Democratic party means
by equitable treatment for immigrants?
(See
The Militarization of Ames: The Real Meaning of the DREAM Act )
#9
"In
whom and in what should we be putting our faith?" If not in Manning --
and the Manning Principle -- then in whom, and in what?
(See
The Path to Peace: Why Not the Manning Way?)
#10
As the Obama administration pivoted from its focus on Syria to something truly startling --
talking to Iran!
-- it became especially important for the American public to some time and
energy to learning and thinking about Iran, the history of the U.S.-Iran
relationship, and what the U.S.-Iran relationship means in the larger
context of the effort to reduce the risk of war and violence in the
world.
(See
IRAN: 3 Reality Checks on the Emerging U.S. Narrative)
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