Attacks on two Saudi Arabian oil facilities on Saturday reportedly reduced the production of Aramco, the state oil company, by one half. It was a devastating demonstration of just how vulnerable the Kingdom’s oil economy actually is. Initial reports suggested that the damage had been caused by explosive drones launched by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who claimed responsibility, but there has been considerable skepticism regarding whether the drones available to the Houthi could actually have carried out the attack.

Inevitably, the United States and the Saudis are blaming Iran, which has often been accused of being the Houthi’s sponsor. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo quickly claimed there was no evidence that the attacks emanated from Yemen and blamed Tehran, tweeting predictably that “amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply.”

I have just read a superb book by Mark Isaacs, an Australian who has documented several years of effort by a group of incredibly committed young people in Afghanistan to build peace in that war-torn country the only way it can be built: by learning, living and sharing peace.

 

The book, titled The Kabul Peace House: How a Group of Young Afghans are Daring to Dream in a Land of War, records in considerable detail the struggle, both internal and external, to generate a peaceful future in Afghanistan. Some might consider this vision naive, others courageous, but few would doubt the simple reality: it is slow, daunting, incredibly difficult, often saddening, frightening, infuriating or painful, sometimes uplifting or hilarious and, just occasionally, utterly rewarding.

 

The irony of this old New Yorker cartoon by Eric Lewis is so precise I haven’t been able to get it out of my head for two years. The speaker is the planet Saturn, clad in doctor’s garb — a stethoscope circling his forehead — giving the bad news to a sick and miserable-looking Earth:

“I’m afraid you have humans.”

Wednesday, September 18, 7-8:30pm, First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Rd.

Join the First Unitarian Universalist Church for a screening of the “Food Chains” documentary, a part of their ongoing film series.

“Food Chains” looks at the lives and the working conditions of farmworkers and focuses on the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Fair Food Program they designed.

“Food Chains” is a documentary that chronicles the Fair Food Program and demonstrates its novelty in effecting substantive change throughout the agriculture system. In fact, other workers are using that program model for many other industries.

A short presentation, discussing the program’s economic impact and the role of faith in the program’s impact on human rights, will follow.

Hosted by Ohio Fair Food.

Educate A Legislator Day date has changed to Wed. Sept 25th 8 am – 4 pm

We received information over the weekend that the Ohio Republicans will be taking a retreat to organize their plans for the year beginning on September 19th, the day we were going to talk with our legislators. I started calling Monday to verify this with the Representatives on the House Public Utilities Committee and was surprised to find that the aides answering the phones knew nothing about any retreat. So, I made some tentative appointments to meet, hoping that the information we received was wrong. I asked if they could investigate and tell me for sure if the Republican Party was going to be at the State House or on retreat on the 19th.  

On Tuesday, Rep. Jay Edwards’ office called and confirmed that the Republicans will indeed be going on a retreat the same day we are trying to hold Educate a Legislator Day. I received calls from other aides canceling appointments I had made because the Representatives would not be available.