Herbert Rothschild: Is it possible to write columns about torturing people in Guantanamo or eliminating the U.S. Agency for International Development without alienating those who are OK with such actions?

Herbert Rothschild: I didn’t get a good read on whether my classmates acknowledge how pervasive the effects of racism still are and the imperative to address them.

Herbert Rothschild: Whether visualization and intention by themselves can effect broad social change is impossible to determine, but the question merits sustained consideration.

Herbert Rothschild: A culture of peace exists in a community when mutual care and respect characterize the relationships among all its people and between them and the environment on which they depend.

Herbert Rothschild: The worst encounter between an aid flotilla and Israeli forces preventing it from reaching Gaza took place in 2010. Israeli naval commanders from speedboats and helicopters boarded the Mavi Marmara, one of six ships in a mostly Turkish flotilla. Nine aid activists were killed on board and a 10th later died from his wounds. Ten Israeli servicemen were wounded, one seriously.

Herbert Rothschild: When we’re asked to name those we admire, we usually think of people of high achievement, not people of good character. Actually, we often don’t know what kind of persons they were, and I’m not sure it matters much if we do. There’s a difference between being great and being good. We admire the former; hopefully, we imitate the latter.

Herbert Rothschild: I don’t think the wisdom of HB 2005 can be assessed on its face. It reflects an awareness of past abuses and thoughtfully attempts to guard against their repetition. Yet, there is enough leeway for arbitrary individual discretion and poor oversight that abuses may recur, if not in one county, then in another.

Herbert Rothschild: It’s historically fitting that Israel has succeeded apartheid South Africa as an international pariah, because from the 1960s through the 1980s Israel sold South Africa aircraft, radar and other advanced weapons systems, and it assisted South Africa’s RSA missile program. Most egregiously, it helped South Africa develop nuclear weapons.

Herbert Rothschild: Rapid response is a three-step process — reporting a suspected ICE action, verifying the report and getting a legal observer team to the site of a verified action. Everyone can help with the first. If you think you see ICE agents, you can phone in a report to 888-622-1510, a statewide hotline maintained by Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition. … But please don’t post any unverified reports on social media

Herbert Rothschild: Like a mob boss, Trump has a highly developed sense of what he thinks people owe him, and he’s willing to rough them up when they don’t pay up. Regarding NATO, he was clear from the start that he believed its European members were getting much more than they were paying for.