Think about this stuff very long and you get to some simple yet difficult to answer questions– “Why is there war?” and “Why isn’t there peace?”.

And think a little longer and it gets uncomfortable.

Thanks for the head’s up on the song Phelps. I’ll have a listen.

A few sunny days and a little fun may change the way the world looks.

Despite so much evidence about the costs of war, somehow, leaders manage to keep it alive and people snarling at one another…

When I first saw the video I was immediately reminded of the distance between soldier and general and thought of the poignant song by Sting in the 1980s — “Children’s Crusade”. After watching the video and then listening to that song it’s quite powerful.

I’ve added the second video to the post.

Hope is a powerful idea. Don’t lose it!

Best to all, p

I’m so disillusioned by the sadness and cruelty in the world.

Thanks for sharing, Steve.

“War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small ‘inside’ group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.” – US Marine Major General Smedley Butler, one of only 19 people to be twice awarded the Medal of Honor, 1935