Dowbrigade

Boston University, long a bastion on the Charles of useless but fascinating
research, has proven conclusively that Red Sox Rabies is a certifiable
physiological disease, in addition to being a dark and disturbing psychological
disorder. [disclaimer: the Dowbrigade has a fiduciary relationship with
said University].
Of
course,
any true
Red
Sox fan could
have told
you that – but it’s always nice to have scientific validation:

Research shows that the dread of repeated disappointment — a feeling
familiar to even casual Sox fans — can turn an iron stomach queasy,
a cheery person into a grouch, and can trigger such strong waves of shuddering
apprehension that the most sedate fan may impulsively jump up and flick
off the television.

Perhaps worse news: It’s contagious. Emotions can spread quickly from
person to person, so it’s only a matter of time before the tense, drawn
faces in coffee lines or on the T spread to those who think they are
immune.

”If you see someone who suddenly looks very much afraid, that will
sort of go to your emotional brain and suddenly you’ll have a little
twinge," said
David H. Barlow, director of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders
at Boston University. ”When you get a number of people increasingly
uptight and focused on future threat . . . it will get others’ attention."

This is great news for the Dowbrigade. Until
recently, we felt we were well on the road to recovery after an acute,
near-fatal attack of the
Rabia last year. But recently we have suffered a relapse, and may need
some time off from work to battle back all over again. Now that this
is a recognized syndrome, you should at least be able to get extended
sick leave, and maybe even permanent disability. At least if you work
at Boston University….

article from the Boston Globe

Listening to the debates, watching the strutting cocks
trying to out-macho one another, trading tough talk on terrorism and
vowing to hunt down, kill, eliminate, annihilate, preemptively attack
and wipe off the face of the earth anyone who has even thought about
hurting
America or an American, a simple query keeps bubbling up in our mind.

Where, amongst the killers and warriors and avengers
of American honor, are the Peacemakers? Where are the Healers, the Truth-Tellers,
the Bringers Together? Where is the modern American Anwar Sadat, Menachim
Begin, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln?

Why are leaders who truly take peace into their hearts,
and try to lay aside the weapons of war, like Gorbachov, Carter and Aristide,
ridiculed and rejected and removed from power? Who will save us from
the madness and chaos that the naked thirst for power threatens to bring
down on the whole of human civilization? The drums of war are beating on both banks of the Potamic. Where are the Peacemakers?