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Listen to this blog I recently returned from Taiwan and the Philippines as part of a small delegation and trip long planned by the International Crisis Group, a trip which coincidentally overlapped with President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing. From meetings with politicians current and former, with military current and former and with media, the perspectives varied, but one unsurprising…
Listen to this blog Or is it “Once more unto the breach…” whatever the breach may be. “Breach”— a crack, a rift, a rupture. Why would one rush into the crack, the rift, the rupture? To repair it before it gets bigger and more threatening? Or is it to put oneself between it and what…
Listen to this blog Above the traffic and people on the boulevard below, I look out at the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean in the southernmost state of Florida. Occasionally the skies open with a downpour of rain then a crack of lightning slices the sky followed by a massive clap of thunder. These shows…
Listen to this blog I’ve come to a stage in life that I don’t feel guilty missing hardships. I can’t determine if that is progress or regression. Sometimes I ask what my 20-year-old-self would say. She was more certain about things, about the need to experience what others in difficult circumstances experienced. She sought out…
Listen to this blog We walk around inside our own heads, admitting into our world what we see and hear and think. I’m sitting at a corner table in a restaurant where I start my day these days, writing for hours, sipping decaf coffee, shaping a new work. I rely on blocking out the ambient…
Listen to this blog At the threshold of a new year, stepping out beyond the footprints of the old, I walk on. The known and unknown ahead. And the unexpected. I choose a red, not a white car to drive into the new year on the roads and highways of this new destination in Florida…by…
Listen to this blog Geese are starting to fly South, squawking over the river in formation. At least I think theirs is a southward journey. It might just be a Saturday morning field trip, but I haven’t seen any flying in the opposite direction. It is not yet winter, and as I sit by the…
Listen to this blog Wars end, eventually. In the middle of war, the end is hard to imagine, and the aftermath unpredictable—devastation restored, justice reconciled, the younger generation taking over…or not? At the moment focus and hope is on a possible peace in the Middle East between Israel and Palestinians. In Syria citizens are also…
Listen to this blog Walking down a familiar stretch of M Street in Georgetown in Washington DC, I noticed a new restaurant among the surrounding restaurants, all featuring foods from different regions of the world side by side in this half block—France, Afghanistan, India and an “Asian grill.” A half mile away are Mexican restaurants…
Listen to this blog The swirl of political events spin in the headlines relating to wars and conflict, profound misdeeds, voting manipulations, deceit among leaders, all having profound consequences in my country and others. I found myself typing words to focus my thoughts—lies, truth, love, counterfeit…Counterfeit, a word and idea to explore. “Counterfeit—An imitation intended…
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