There is little that one can do when faced with the enormous tragedies of the past few days. Innocent lives taken by acts of violence so heinous that it is difficult to grasp the depth of pain that has been caused. The reality is that despite the almost universal revulsion of these acts the beat goes on. Death chants continue,planes launch strikes, missiles are fired and the talking heads on TV justify their government’s positions. It is always the fault of the other group that has led to these consequences. Will we ever learn that barbaric acts never solve anything, and that sooner or later dictators fall, and peace makes infinitely more sense than war. There will never be a thousand year Reich and the sooner the plowshares replace the missiles the sooner we can get on with the real mission of humanity: loving each other and embracing the beauty of our diversity.