Carrie Schuchardt of House of Peace, Ipswich, holding a symbolic baby, in solidarity with Gaza mothers mourning the lost lives of their infants. Banner "We Repent the Sin of Violence" held by John Schuchardt and Emily Hankle with daughters at the Good Friday Stations of the Cross gathering organized by Agape in front of the Massachusetts State House. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley attending the Interfaith Ceasefire event at Faneuil Hall, Boston. Professors Neto Valiente and Catherine Mooney (center) of Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. CR Spicer (MTS '15) with Professors Mary Jo Iozzio and Neto Valiente of Boston College School of Theology and Ministry in front of the Federal Building. Committing to endurance, the assembly charged Senators Warren and Markey with complicity in war crimes (or should have).

Author with State Senator Pat Jehlen and husband Alain Jehlen in Davis Square. Published 20 March 2024   Somerville Times here Another Jew for Ceasefire C.R. Spicer March 8 Yellow tulips for International Women’s Day were distributed to participants after thirty-five had gathered in Somerville at Davis Square to mourn the indiscriminate killing in Gaza. Alain Jehlen, attending the protest on Friday said “Ceasefire is the only way to be human.” “Already 1 percent of the population is dead,” Sen. Pat Jehlen said. “That’s thirty million Americans. 700 in Somerville.” “I’m so appalled,” said Nancy Murray, Cambridge resident who worked for the ACLU, She has visited all the refugee camps including Jabalia recalling the 2,000 lb. bomb Israel dropped there. As more than 9,000 women have been killed in Gaza, the death toll was dramatized by a reading of names and ages of Palestinian victims. “The names we just read included several families,” remarked Amina, a student wearing a Kafiya and black

  “Ugh,” said the little dinosaur. “UOahh” said the little dragon. The two were sharing a hospital bedroom with a window overlooking a red tinted river and violet clouds. But they weren't seeing any of it. They both squinted their upset eyes and groaned. “I don’t feel so good,” said the dinosaur. “Me neither.”  Knock, Knock, came a sound at the door. “It’s time for temperatures,” said the nurse. “Say ah.”  “UOahh,” said the little dragon. “Oh, that is certainly a temperature.” “Mine is worse,” said the dinosaur. “Let’s see about that,” said the nurse. “Oh, that does look high. But you both will feel better in the morning.” The window shows a gray outdoor cloud and a narrow red disk disappearing across the river. And they went fast asleep too. That night a great big earthquake struck the building in two. A fire truck arrived and sent up a firefighter on a ladder. “Come with me you two. You’ll have to climb on my shoulders.”  The next morning a newspaper arrived on the neighborhood’s

  Rain has washed away a snowdrift in the corner of the 24hr Dunkin' Donuts parking lot in Somerville’s Magoun square revealing a fallen sign promoting a Walk to End Alzheimer’s event last October. In this out of date sign I stop and reflect with gratitude for the event organizers and those dedicated participants. That month I spent largely oblivious to the elderly in my midst, preoccupied with our newborn and launching the kids to school routines and planning to make my sweet potato chili for Halloween, not to mention the opening stages of what International Court of Justice has ruled applying the law of Genocide to call for an end to hostilities and delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Though they remain largely invisible in one of the Commonwealth’s youngest cities, the elderly, classed in our society among the most vulnerable persons, and their needs, have lately come to my attention in my capacity as Chair of the Somerville Human Rights Commission. For over a decad

Einstein spoke to the UN in 1946 saying that the "village square" did not want a nuclear arms race. The iconic Armageddon Clock of The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists  is 90 seconds to midnight, rating the current and never-before-faced proximal threat of nuclear war. Currently the US is "showing force" near Gaza--Meanwhile, blatently disregarding its US Treaty Obligations under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signed by the US in 1968, the U.S. Navy has announced the commissioning site of a submarine still under construction.   1. Nuclear Weapons and Gaza, 2. USS Massachusetts to be commissioned in Boston Nuclear Weapons and Gaza The US silence on Israel's possession of nuclear weapons is one violation of the Non Proliferation Treaty. I point to the foundations of this in the Golda Meir-Nixon agreement  in my essay " Gaza Babies and Achille Mbembe's  Necropolitics "  but disarmament activists are making other connections.  Nine wer

Where is a middle ground in a polarization of the discourses of hope and the discourses of despair? How do ‘we’ feel about our consumption of breaking news about war?    “‘Surgeries have had to stop,’ said the hospital’s director, Dr. Mohamed Abu Salmiya. ‘Kidney dialysis has stopped and the neonatal unit is in a very dire situation. A baby has died because of lack of oxygen and electricity and heat.’ …The hospital has more than three dozen premature babies in incubators, Medhat Abbas, the director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, said in a text message on Saturday”–Raja Abdulrahim, Ameera Harouda and Alan Yuhas, “ Plight of Gaza’s Main Hospital Worsens as Israeli Defense Force Close In ” 12 Nov. 2023 New York Times.    In reality, as opposed to the social construction of discourses, war is not a topic of conversation among soldiers alone (take Brian de Palma’s Redacted for example of a fictional retelling of U.S. soldiers in Iraq as point of view shifts to interpret a father mournin