Thanks for the welcome, Doug. My life has been filled with disappointment. In the sixties we seemed to share a vision of a world of brother and sisterhood in which all people were treated equal and violence would be ended in each of its forms. The seventies came and we lost those ideals in the rat race. Our mothers and fathers had made attempts to to achieve social justice in the election of people like FDR. We sent an union busting actor from California to the White House. Our mothers and fathers pretty much ended judicialy sanctioned homicide (indeed Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan are still in prison thirty something years later). And we have brought the nightmare back from the grave to haunt the world once more. I believe that there has to be a basic premise in life. And for me that foundation is love. Life comes from love. If one destroys life, has that no impact on the source? Why can we not protect society without violent retribution? Why can not those who would be a serious threat join the ranks of Manson and Sirhan rather than being exterminated? How can we teach "Thou Shalt not Kill!" when our official position is so contradictory? How many deaths will it take til we know that too damned many people have died?

Love & Peace! -sc