Essays: the Collection

April 7th, 2015 I once said, " If war solves all of our problems, shouldn't we have solved all them by now?" Everyone seems to be so quick for blood.   There are some just hungry for a fight. What too many people think of war are nice neat images like this. This is the picture of combat.  Brave, fit bold men with medals. The images below are what I see when someone bring up the subject of war.  This is what I see every time someone mentions war to me.   The carnage of war. The lost limbs The reality of war. The images above are what I see, a great deal of the time.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015 Are The Veterans Invisible? By Kurt von Behrmann Several days ago I saw a political pundit on H.B.O. talk about possible war in Iran.   When she mentioned taking military action, she did so with such non nonchalance that I was stunned into silence.   She talked about war as if she were talking about a new app for her Iphone, only with far less enthusiasm. However, when it comes to equipping troops in war and providing mental health care, medical health care,  housing and adjustment to civilian life after combat, suddenly "We The People," who are already struggling to find jobs and keep our homes are the only ones who are expected to  provide for them.   We do, but we can only do so much. I want to do what I can.     I have several works of art that deal directly with VET's and I am selling them with the direct intent of giving a sizable percent of the proceeds to Disabled American Vets.  ...

Ferguson and The University of Oklahoma’s  Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity  April 4, 2015 By:  Kurt von Behrmann                 In what some deem “Post Racial America,” overwhelming evidence to the contrary indicates we are anything but a racially equitable society.   Overt discrimination is still with us.  When tensions reach a breaking point, or when what has been private is made public, the notion of an America minus prejudice sounds like the ludicrous piece of fiction that it is.                 Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s secretive chat celebrating the exclusion of African-Americans from its ranks became known, and an embarrassing facet of Greek life reared its head.  It was a decidedly ugly one.  Given permission by concealment, feelings and attitudes from America’s past made thems...