Martin Kelley

Afghanistan policy after the McChrystal scandal—The New Yorker:

The military key to counterinsurgency is protection of the population, but the difficulty in securing Marja and the delay of a promised campaign in Kandahar suggest that the majority of Afghan Pashtuns no longer want to be protected by foreign forces. The political goal of counterinsurgency is to strengthen the tie between civilians and their government, but the Afghan state is a shell hollowed out by corruption, and at its center is the erratic figure of President Karzai.

The obituary for our awesome neighbor Angie. A real saint, she’ll be missed. I can still hear her say “ah, but what are you gonna do?” response to all of life’s troubles.

DOMENICO, ANGELINA “ANGIE” (NEE MAZZA) 84 - of Hammonton, passed away Friday peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family. Born in Hammonton she was a lifelong resident there. Mrs. Domenico was a retired machine operator for Aggressive Coat Co. of Hammonton. She was a member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, and St. Rita’s Society of Hammonton. Angie was a loving caring, person that dedicated her life to her family and friends, who meant everything to her. She was a good cook who enjoyed cooking for her family and friends and never showed up anywhere “empty handed.” She was predeceased by her husband: Joseph A. Domenico. Angie is survived by her five children: Joseph C. Domenico, Rita Domenico, Michael Domenico, John Domenico and daughter in law: Barbara Restuccio all of Hammonton; Marie Sirolli and her husband Nick of Winslow; three brothers: Jack Mazza (Helen); Vince Mazza (Kathy) and Mike Mazza all of Hammonton; four grandsons: John Domenico (Teresa); Michael Domenico(Shannon); Vincent Domenico (Kristen) and Joseph. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday 10:00am in St. Joseph’s RC Church, N. Third St., Hammonton. Burial will follow in Oak Grove Cemetery. A viewing will be held Monday evening 7:00pm - 9:00pm and again on Tuesday morning 9:00am at the Carnesale Funeral Home, 202 S. Third St., Hammonton. (www.carnesalefuneralhome.com) Published in The Press of Atlantic City on June 12, 2010

From a self-described “Quaker, peace and development worker, vegetarian and adventurer” who is also a new member of QuakerQuaker. She explains that her blog talks”about Quakerism as part of a whole range of topics!”

Quote: Eleven years ago, six white kids, fresh out of college, took a vow: They would shack up; they would share. They would live either in monogamous married couples or be celibate. They would work only part-time, valuing one another and their community over wealth. They would stand against injustice where they saw it, and bring about justice where they could.

Quote: The same skepticism that conservatives like to train on bleeding-heart idealists might also help create a more critical and careful examination of wealth, power, the possibility of structural injustice, and the possibility that some enemies might even become friends—and at less expense than it would take to kill them. Both progressives and conservatives, unfortunately, get too caught up in their own identities, rather than using their philosophies as analytical disciplines and sources of inspiration. Checking to see if someone puts out the right cultural signals, shares the same visceral dislikes of certain politicians (“who makes you hear the dog whistle?”), and laughs at the usual stereotypical jokes about nutcases—all that builds false community, not true national security.

An 88-year-old white supremacist with a rifle walked into the Holocaust Museum, one of the capital’s most-visited sites, on Wednesday afternoon and began shooting, fatally wounding a security guard and sending tourists scrambling before he himself was shot, the authorities said.

The federal government mistakenly made public a 266-page report, its pages marked “highly confidential,” that gives detailed information about hundreds of the nation’s civilian nuclear sites and programs, including maps showing the precise locations of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear weapons.

Martin’s Commentary: Ummm…. whoops?

This remarkable saga of persistent, creative peace action is full of implications for future work to end war and find alternatives to militarism.

A similar degree of liberalism was at the gathering. While issues, policy positions, and ideology are quite different on both side, one similarity is the constantinianism,this idea that if we change the government in certain ways, if we get the right person elected, if we pass certain laws, if we renew the promise of america, things will be better.

[The workshop leader urged] viewers not to avoid the sometimes unsavory cinema or to live in separate spheres of church and pop culture, but to embrace both as an opportunity to learn from one…

The audio from the plenary sessions and worship from the peace gathering.

There are more Quakers in Kenya than anywhere else in the world and some of the conflict was right in the heart of the area where the Quakers are most numerous—my hometown of Lumakanda included….

The idea that the media gives a hoot what 300 or so church people do in a series of wordy meetings in busy downtown Philadelphia is a pipe dream. And ditto in spades for the world beyond that, and…

Friends Journal will bring you exclusive coverage of this gathering of representatives. [Editor’s note: it’s 2009, there’s the blogosphere, “exclusive” coverage of a public event is not going to…