China, land of my ancestors I do not pretend to know you well, but I know you better than most Americans.  Not just intellectually but in my heart.  When Hong Kong was returned to you, I felt a surprising release of anger that I did not even know was in me.  "At last!" I thought, "at last the imperialists are gone from Chinese soil!"  I am my parents' daughter.

This morning the news flashed across my web browser, U.S. death toll in the Iraq war is at 4,000. Far surpassing the 2,975 people who died on September 11th. And we're only counting U.S. fatalities.

But rather than do another rant as I did on the fifth anniversary of the start of this immoral war, I will try to listen to the pastoral suggestion of Rev. Sinkford, president of the UUA. For indeed I do love my country and that's the reason why this war upsets me so.

In January, we passed the 5th anniversary of the creation of Guantanmo. Today, we pass the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

There have been no weapons of mass destruction found.

No links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda found.

We say we went in to spread peace and democracy to Iraq (with bombs). Today, Iraq is racked with violence. The terrorists that were not there before are there now, flooding in as our presence foments resentment.

No need for me to comment.

Vermont bill would end use of National Guard in Iraq

By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau

MONTPELIER – Vermont lawmakers, who passed the first state resolution calling for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq last year, are now pushing a bill disputing federal authority to continue using Vermont National Guard soldiers in the war.

The holiday of Hanukkah celebrates a miracle in which oil that should only have been enough to last one night instead lasted for eight. Less well known is the fact that the holiday of Hanukkah is associated with a war. It commemorates the victorious Maccabean revolt, overthrowing Greek rule, and the re-dedication of the Temple.

How fitting it is then that on the first night of Hanukkah, we find ourselves embroiled in a war over oil in Iraq, and seemingly itching for war with its neighbor Iran.

An image seared into my psyche from the earliest years of my consciousness is that of a burning Vietnamese monk. The incident happened before my existence but was repeatedly shown during the long, drawn out war. The flames so violent, yet the monk so stoic. So Buddhist.

Color me shocked and also tickled. As all of you probably know by now, the winner of the this years Nobel Prize for Peace was announced today and Al Gore won, along with the United Nations Panel on Climate Change. Ol' Al had been nominated for "putting climate change on the agenda."

The local paper tells me that some students on the campus of George Washington University are in trouble today because they put up fliers advertising National Islamo-facism Awareness Week. The fliers, which start off by exclaiming "Hate Muslims? So Do We!!!" goes on to list several "stereotypical features" of Muslims, such as their "lasers in eyes" and "peg-leg for smuggling children and heroin."

On the same day that the Supreme Court refused to listen to a case of wrongful abduction and torture by our government, the president of the UUA, Bill Sinkford, delivered over 13,000 signatures to Congress from UUs from all 50 states (and DC) calling on them to end the unj

I haven't (until now) plugged what happens at the UUA's Washington Office. I feel the need to keep some semblance of separation between my personal opinions as a UU in this blog and my status as an employee of the UUA. But this is just too exciting to not mention. While I was away on vacation in Alaska, the UUA took on it's biggest online advocacy campaign ever. We are attempting to collect 25,000 signatures witnessing for Peace.