Tom Murphy,  June 2, 2007

Three extraordinary movies currently showing across the US have me thinking about the way we view relationships as we age. The first, Waitress, focuses on the plight of a sweeter-than-pie woman who’s stuck in a marriage to a jerk. The lesson here is to respect yourself. The second, The Namesake, teaches us how we’ll learn from the love of those around us. The third, Away From Her, shows the sacrifices needed to make our love complete. These are highly personal stories and all are beautifully told. But there is a connection of all of them to the larger world of war and peace in which the US lives. As a nation, we must find the respect we deserve, learn from the love of those around us, and make sacrifices to show our love for those around us. Without that love and respect, we will become isolated on the world stage.

Tom Murphy,  May 23, 2007

Quick! What do the following topics have in common: the Iraq War, Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, gas prices, an impending recession, and global warming? OK, that’s too obvious. The American consumption of fossil fuels, the leading cause of global warming, is driving up gas prices, led to war in Iraq (you didn’t buy the WMD thing, did you?) and has left us threatening Iran. And now it’s also threatening to start a fight with OPEC. True, Europe and China also can be blamed for the current shortage of gasoline and mindless emissions of greenhouse gasses, but the US is still the leading consumer of petroleum products. True, Saddam Hussein was a bad man, but it doesn’t appear life for the average Iraqi has improved since he left office. Somewhere between 60,000 and 600,000 Iraqis have been killed in our quest for regime change, a change that was supposed to be financed by lucrative oil revenue, much of which is now vanishing before it reaches the Iraqi people. We threaten Iran, where gasoline sells for 38 cents a gallon, and then are surprised it is developing nuclear weapons. And as gas prices in the US climb to record levels, consumer spending is dropping in other areas, contributing to a worsening economic outlook. The truly sad thing here is that we did this, and we keep doing it every day. If you and I and our neighbors drove less – perhaps 25 percent less – the demand for gas would drop, oil prices would fall, the air would be cleaner, and the American lust for Middle Eastern oil would ease up. Oh, yeah, you’d also have more money to spend on food, clothes, housing and to save for your old age (which, by the way, is starting to look a tad under-funded). So do what it takes. Ride a bike to the store. Made one trip instead of two in the car. Take transit to work. Your actions can end wars and bring our troops home. And that’s not a bad thing to think about this Memorial Day.