Assault on Hamas in Gaza Kills Hundreds                                                                                                                                                                                                     It is with a mixture of grief, love and rage that I watch the assault by Israel on Hamas in Gaza which has taken upwards of 350 lives. I am a lover of Israel who has bent over backwards to accept and to understand as Israelis struggle to defend themselves from terrorist attacks.  The Victim Has Become a Bully   Imagine a parent whose child repeatedly gets beaten up by bullies. The parent counsels his/her child to face his bullies. The child takes the parent’s advice and learns to fight his aggressor.  Only he learns his lesson too well. One day after one too many complaints from the school and the police, the parent discovers that his child has become the town bully.  He has to have that “tough love” talk he never dreamed of having: “My son, you have become a bully. Yes, people are hurting you but you stronger than the other kids.

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 The Future Starts Now: We Must Create It Together                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Jubilation, Tears and Thanksgiving Barack Obama’s victory in the presidential race on Tuesday night was a time of jubilation, tears and thanksgiving that I will never forget. One of my most indelible teenage memories is of watching civil rights demonstrators being sprayed by fire hoses while my father screamed, “Get those niggers!”  To see this man elected President was the fulfillment of a dream for me and for so many others.                            Tsunami of New Energy Released The eruption of dancing, and joy on the faces of people all over this country and around the world was utterly remarkable. People saw a possible new future for themselves, for their children and future generations.  A wave of energy was released, which some have compared to a tsunami.  It is absolutely vital that this energy is not allowed to dissipate.                                                                                                                Problems too Complex to Leave All Up to Government The problems we face now are far too large and too complex. We cannot leave handling all these problems -from the financial crisis, education, health care, energy, transportation,- to the federal and state governments.  If we leave these policy decisions to Congress the lobbyists will descend on Washington once more and the money machine will start all over again. Then all hope for change will go out the window.

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Introduction: In today’s interview I welcome Jack Berriault, the founder and Executive Director of The Israel Palestine Project. The mission of TIPP is to cause a major step toward an equitable and enduring peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by creating a common historical narrative. I have been a member of the Board of Directors of this project for several years and Jack is a personal friend of mine. Q: Jack, why did you create this project? You have no ties by birth to the conflict. JB: It started when I was 14.

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I was watching a CNN show about the future as I exercised at the gym on the eliptical machine. The show featured several commentators talking about what the future will look like, the promises it holds for longer life for human beings, great advances in health and healing, the end of hunger, extraordinary leaps in technology. The only guest I recognized was Ray Kurzweil. I have read his new book, The Singularity is Near. When the moderator asked the question, “Will human beings still have war in the future?” I paid very close attention. I wanted to see if perhaps Kurzweil had evolved from the position on the future of warfare that he takes in the book. Unfortunately Kurzweil stuck to the same position that he takes in the book, and asserted that despite all the utopian and miraculous dreams of healing coming true in the future (the blind shall see, the crippled shall walk!), you guessed it folks, we will still have wars.

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