MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2001

A propos of recent events, Ina Clausen contributes the following passage from Dwight David Eisenhower’s Chance of Peace Address, delivered in Washington on April 16, 1953: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and who are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone, it is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, and the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life for all in any true sense. Under the cloud of a threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of hell.” The old warrior has aged well.

In the September 24 New Yorker, Susan Sontag raised the wrath of many readers, including Ex-paper columnist Martin F. Nolan, for decrying “the self-righteous drivel and outright deceptions being peddled by public figures and TV commentators” after the suicide attacks on her hometown. Moss Roberts writes that she has responded to her critics in a Q & A conducted by David Talbot in the October 16 issue of Salon. Here’s a taste: “As I said in my New Yorker piece, there’s a great disconnect between reality and what people in government and the media are saying of the reality. I have no doubt that there are real debates among military and political leaders going on both here and elsewhere. But what is being peddled to the public is a fairy tale.”

Closer to home, Gary Virginia has an op-ed piece in the October 15 issue of Spectrum entitled, “A time for reflection and thoughtful action.” Here’s a sample of what the former candidate for supervisor has to say: “Would America be embroiled in this current war without our intrusion of foreign lands to appease our dependence on fossil fuels? This streak of terrorism began at least as far back as 1991 when the U.S. bombed Iraq. We knew in the fall of 1992 that the Islamic terrorists were zeroing in on us. Osama bin Laden and his cohorts have been very vocal in their so called “holy war,” from the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center to the ambush of U.S. soldiers on an aid mission in Africa. Luckily their 1994 plot to steer an Air France plane into the Eiffel Tower was foiled due to their lack of flying skills. How much more notice did the democratic nations need in addressing these fundamentalist extremists?”

The Bindlestiff Studio — “An Epicenter for Filipino American Performing Arts — announces a rally on the steps of City Hall at 2:30 on Tuesday, October 23. The occasion: a protest against the Redevelopment Agency’s possible delay of the New Plaza Hotel, a project expected to bring jobs and housing to hard-pressed 6^th Street.

The Korean Center (1362 Post) is hosting a DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) Contest from 7:00 to 9:00 on Tuesday, October 23. The pre-Halloween party promises prizes for the best dance, “pumpkin carving, treats, and more.” Or wait till 3:30 on Wednesday, October 31, when the Korean Center, along with the Booker T. Washington Community Center, holds its Halloween Party, complete with a proper haunted house. For more information: 415 441-1881 or info@koreannet.org.

Protests and parties. Yes, life does indeed go on.