Unitarians, Isocracy, Misc.

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Fundraiser for the Father Bob Foundation at the Unitarians went very well; over 100 people in attendance, over $1000 raised. Have a clip of Alex Garber performing Song of Liberty, dodgy camera work by yours truly. Bob is a very down to earth anarcho-syndicalist (retired) Catholic priest who cares primarily about looking after those who are most down on their luck. Having been forced into retirement six months ago, he's looking for a parish; he might have found one. In other Unitarian news this Sunday I'm giving an address on Terrorism: A Unitarian-Universalist Response, which will look at definitions, immediate responses, and preventative actions.

The Isocracy Network is holding a major meeting (FB invite) on July 21st, a lecture from Dr. Virginia Tilley, on apartheid in the Palestinian occupied territories. Dr. Tilley is one of the world's foremost experts on this subject, so it was with some pleasure that her reviews on my essays on the subject were positive to say the least....


I'm going to be honest here. After working and writing for some 27 years on Palestine, when I meet someone out of the blue who writes on the conflict and go to their writings to see what's up, I do so with trepidation, as so much out there is redundant or silly or pointless or something else bothersome. What a shock to read your two pieces and find them so erudite, eloquent, rigorous, deep and devastating of the other side! How on earth did you get to be so well-versed in this conflict as a kind of sideline? Your piece on Israeli apartheid includes material about nationality and identity that very people people have a handle on, your grasp of South African apartheid is better than the great majority of people writing on this, and your "zero-state solution" is wonderful as well. And sheer courage here, too. Gosh! What an unexpected pleasure!


Apart from finishing off a work project (next post), the other major event in the week was the extraction of a tooth. In a mouth of chompers that have survived very well despite extremely occassional visits to the dentist, one hairline crack in a molar resulted in root canal therapy two years ago, and finally removal last Thursday. Also, finished four reviews for various Rifts publications, submitted to rpg.net, and have received a pre-release of sixth edition RuneQuest.

Comments

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Thanks for those, quite remarkable people. There are notably more directly political than Father Bob, who - whilst having very good politics - is more orientated towards to direct welfare services.