To Kill or Not to Kill?

It's time to speak of war. Or, if you wish, "sactioned killing." Warring, is, of course, older than civilization, and intrisic to most life-forms on this planet. Whether we speak of the hummingbird battles on my back deck (where, although feeders are everywhere, my little hummers spend half their energy "defending" the feeder they've chosen as theirs!) - Or whether we speak of Iraq, Afganistan or Darfur - war is still the primary way that the denizens of Earth resolve their disputes. Humans have created an Art Form of it, perfecting strategies and weapons with immense skill, ever escalating the stakes.
We now possess the ability to destroy the entire earth ten times over, and still we press on, tirelessly working to surpass both our enemies and our friends in the ability to annihilate the mostest the fastest.
Why? Because there are evil forces out there, threatening our very existence (as if we don't ourselves?) who can only be stopped if we slaughter enough of "them" to bring them to their knees. Of couse, plenty of our own get slaughtered in the process; nearly all of them our youngest, healthiest and brightest - who die on the battlefield, or limp home, wounded in body and soul, a permanent drain on the medical resources of the country and unlikely to ever make the contributions to their families and their society that they might have.
So; I must ask - when do we become civilized enough to realize that there must be (or, must be) a better solution than war?

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Back from the Wars

I'm sorry for the long silence! Actually, I've been on what we'll call medical leave; several surgeries to correct some increasingly debilitating problems. It was long, tedious and a bit grueling, but I'm well on my way back to life as it should be. The summer is waning; at least here in the high country, where Labor Day signals the beginning of autumn. My hummingbird count is around fifteen, busily draining the sugarwater from my five feeders. The Rufouses (named for their rusty-redness) have made their late-summer appearance; they are aggressively territorial and greedy, so the deck is now often the scene of whirring hummer-wars. Quite amazing little creatures; they are unendingly delightful to watch.
I suppose we could call this post a "soft re-entry" - perfect for such a splendid, sunny summer morning. I'll get to more serious topics later!

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