Peace

Atherton, Calif. -- JANUARY brings the anniversary of the violent end of Mohandas K. Gandhi, called the Mahatma, at the hands of one who today would be characterized as a crazed Hindu fundamentalist.As 1995 begins, world peace becomes ever more illusionary with ethnic and territorial clashes overtaking the global community. One cannot but feel nostalgia for the man who reinvented nonviolence to help the cause of beleaguered people everywhere.To many Indians, Gandhi symbolized the second coming of the Messiah in his austerity, love of fellow humans and his mission of peace.

The U.S. Peace Corps will begin accepting applications from same-sex couples who wish to serve overseas together for the first time next month, the agency announced Tuesday. The move follows a broader shift by the Obama administration toward publicly supporting gay rights and denouncing LGBT discrimination globally through U.S. diplomatic efforts, including at the State Department and the United Nations. The Peace Corps said opening its doors to same-sex domestic partners "further diversifies the pool of Peace Corps applicants and the skills of those invited to serve overseas in the fields of education, health, community economic development, environment, youth in development and agriculture.

Peace is the color of tie dyeIt sounds like roaring peoplein a crowdand the cry of dolphins in the ocean.Peace smells like the salt water in theair blowing in your face.Its taste is like happiness after yourhave savedsomeone or something.It feels like a rainbow in the dark.

A group of friends and family from Elkridge prepared for the Preakness as they have every year for decades. They packed tubs of Rice Krispies treats, shrimp salad, macaroni salad, cashews, soft drinks and a giant bag of Utz chips into their cars and headed to Pimlico Race Course . But this year, the Boston Marathon bombing was in the back of their minds. Peggy Maher, one of the group, brought her grandson for the first time. Just in case the unthinkable happened, she went over an emergency plan with everyone should they get separated: Meet at Sinai Hospital, a little over a mile away.

In today's high-tech world, it's easy to forget to unplug and unwind. If you're in need of a mental break, check out the drop-in meditation classes run by the Kadampa Meditation Center, a nonprofit Buddhist organization - the only one of its kind in Harford County. “In our busy, often distracted daily lives, meditation is an essential tool for helping to develop mindfulness, focus, and a healthy mental perspective on daily life,” says Kelsang Menla, administrative director for the center.

On the 65th anniversary of using the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, no doubt people who decry the use will be coming out of the woodwork to once again castigate the event. While the bomb was a weapon of war, it also became a weapon for peace as well. There can't be the slightest doubt that Stalin and the Soviet Union had czarist eyes on all of Europe, having already demonstrated that by the invasion of Poland, the Baltic States and Finland. The Soviets saw what the bomb does and that we were in position to use it again.

In memory of George McGovern, we should not forget that he was a GI ("Liberal icon fought Nixon, Vietnam War," Oct. 22). Originally, GI stood for General Issue, but it came to represent the men and women who wore a uniform in service to their country. At the end of World War II, these people were disgusted with killing, maiming, deforming, wasting, etc. With the assistance of the several parts of the GI Bill, they tried to make sure it didn't happen again. The death of George McGovern should not end his efforts or end the efforts of millions of his compatriots to ensure peace and tranquillity.

Given how low the expectations were for President Barack Obama's highly publicized trip to the Middle East, it may not be saying much to declare that he exceeded them. But given the precarious state of Israeli-Palestinian relations, it would also be easy to underappreciate just how crucial his efforts may prove to be in the long quest for a lasting peace in the Middle East. When Mr. Obama arrived in Israel, he faced many who believed that the possibility of a two-state solution was on its death bed, if not gone already.

"Peace is necessary, just, and it is possible," President Barack Obama told Israelis last week in Jerusalem. His visit to the region was a crucial step in the pursuit of peace. President Obama recognized the ancient Jewish connection to Israel and the necessity for a Jewish state. He understood the grave challenges threatening its survival and that responsibility for resolving the conflict will have to be shared between Palestinians, Israelis and the international community. At the same time, he made clear that the U.S. will stand with Israel as it considers the difficult compromises necessary to achieve peace.

Ten-year-old Nathan Smith came up with an acronym for peace: "Peace Encourages A Conflict to End. " Before folding his sheet of colored paper into a pinwheel, Aubrey Thornton, 9, filled it with hearts, peace symbols and an array of colors. Alayna Munoz, 9, penned that people should care for each other and be peaceful like egrets, adding that in spelling the name of the milky-white bird, "I had trouble on the last 'e.'" The three students and others at Forest Ridge Elementary School in Laurel had no trouble participating in Tuesday's Pinwheels for Peace, a worldwide project where children craft images and messages about peace then fold their papers into twirly objects and plant them in the ground as part of International Day of Peace.

Joe Tropea thought he was writing a research paper on the Catonsville Nine, a group of Catholic anti-war activists who set draft records ablaze outside a Selective Service office in 1968. But what he was really working on was a movie script. "I just got hooked on telling the story," Tropea says of the six-year film project, undertaken with co-director Skizz Cyzyk, that will be getting its local premiere during this week's 15th Maryland Film Festival. The festival starts Wednesday and runs through Sunday.

For as long as Will Ulmer can remember, Maryland has been his favorite college football team. The Terps' well-documented struggles never seemed to bother the St. John's (D.C.) quarterback. Even as Ulmer began to accumulate scholarships from college football powers across the country, the Laurel native kept coming back to his strong feelings about the program down the road in College Park. “[I was just thinking about] staying home and being a local guy / local star just doing it for the hometown team,” Ulmer said Wednesday.

The Awana Club at Prince of Peace Baptist Church in Fallston recently presented five of the highest awards given in the Awana organization. Citation awards are presented only to high school seniors and adults. For each recipient, this represents 10 years of work and includes the memorization of 800 to 1,000 verses as well as many hours of study and service activities.

After years of conflict and killing in the Middle East, Europe and now here, I would like to know who speaks for the nonviolent Muslims? Have they a leadership or a voice that reaches the media? Do they fear reprisals by those whom they should castigate? I keep a close watch on the news, both on television and in print, but I am unaware of anyone of that faith decrying the killings perpetrated by the region's radicals. I wish they would speak up. Otherwise they run the risk of people dropping the word "radical" from the phrase "Muslim radicals" and painting the entire religion with the same brush.

Joseph "Zastrow" Simms, known as a colorful and compassionate community activist who helped bridge racial and social gaps in Annapolis from as far back as the turbulent 1960s, died Monday. Simms' niece Stacey Gaskin said Simms died of congestive heart failure, one month shy of his 79th birthday. He had been in home hospice care at her Arnold residence, she said. Simms grew up in Annapolis in the 1930s and 1940s, when the state capital was separated along racial lines, but became popular throughout the city because of his athletic prowess at Bates High School.

"Peace is necessary, just, and it is possible," President Barack Obama told Israelis last week in Jerusalem. His visit to the region was a crucial step in the pursuit of peace. President Obama recognized the ancient Jewish connection to Israel and the necessity for a Jewish state. He understood the grave challenges threatening its survival and that responsibility for resolving the conflict will have to be shared between Palestinians, Israelis and the international community. At the same time, he made clear that the U.S. will stand with Israel as it considers the difficult compromises necessary to achieve peace.

There are a growing number of conflicts worldwide, fighting in Syria, unrest in Egypt, and increasing tension in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict among them. As more and more countries become involved, a real possibility exists that things can get worse for everyone. This holiday season, I believe it is important for countries to stop and think about their actions, to realize the dangers of the paths they are taking. Too many countries today are more concerned about their personal interests and differences and not enough about how this affects people in their nations and others as well.

KAL's cartoon of March 24 depicting President Barack Obama disinterring a dove representing the two-state solution, only to see the dove shot at by "Israeli extremists" and "Palestinian extremists" is witty, clever, and inaccurate. The cartoon lazily rehashes the simplistic but false narrative that zealots on both sides are responsible for continuation of the conflict and equally to blame for the lack of a peaceful resolution. In reality, the fact that in 2013, a Palestinian state does not exist is attributable to the 1947 Arab rejection of the UN partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states; Yasir Arafat's 2000 rejection of the contiguous Palestinian state offered by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in negotiations at Taba; and President Mahmoud Abbas' 2008 rejection of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's offer of a Palestinian state on 97 percent of the West Bank.

KAL's cartoon of March 24 depicting President Barack Obama disinterring a dove representing the two-state solution, only to see the dove shot at by "Israeli extremists" and "Palestinian extremists" is witty, clever, and inaccurate. The cartoon lazily rehashes the simplistic but false narrative that zealots on both sides are responsible for continuation of the conflict and equally to blame for the lack of a peaceful resolution. In reality, the fact that in 2013, a Palestinian state does not exist is attributable to the 1947 Arab rejection of the UN partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states; Yasir Arafat's 2000 rejection of the contiguous Palestinian state offered by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in negotiations at Taba; and President Mahmoud Abbas' 2008 rejection of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's offer of a Palestinian state on 97 percent of the West Bank.

Given how low the expectations were for President Barack Obama's highly publicized trip to the Middle East, it may not be saying much to declare that he exceeded them. But given the precarious state of Israeli-Palestinian relations, it would also be easy to underappreciate just how crucial his efforts may prove to be in the long quest for a lasting peace in the Middle East. When Mr. Obama arrived in Israel, he faced many who believed that the possibility of a two-state solution was on its death bed, if not gone already.