I realize the old saying "life is cheap" means that life isn't held, by some people at least, as precious as it should be.

But these ancient hatreds--in some cases, literally ancient--seem to so completely transcend the cliches and catch-phrases we so often toss at them.

I'm depressed to the point of despair by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, because although all you see in the photographs are faces filled with agony, sorrow and fear, these people seemingly can't find their way to life. They apparently cannot make it through the day without plotting death.

Bowser's right, I think...both sides are wrong; not only are they completely wrong, but they are so far into the wrong that I have no faith whatsoever they will be able to find a path back to decency. It's just a whole lot easier to keep killing than to rejoin a human species which in the early 21st century seemed to be trying to find some way to stop killing.

Before September 11, I dared to entertain some hopes that perhaps humankind was entering an enlightened age. I suppose now it's obvious, even to me, that I was simply fooling myself. We are now as we were 10,000 years ago.