Ben East Books

Author: Ben East

  • Don’t Kneel on Me

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    Ben East
    in

    Who can watch the events in cities across the United States and not hoist a banner of some sort? Either you take a stand against bigotry, hatred, injustice, and division. Or you incite it with violent rhetoric from behind your hooded accounts on social media.     ##

  • Very Biryani

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    Ben East
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    Here’s a succulent dish: Biryani! Five layers of vegetable and rice pulao filling a casserole dish to the top. On the side, raita, a seasoned yogurt with diced tomato and shaved cucumber. I prepared the vegetables and rice separately, for the vegetables chopping eight cups of colorful peppers, broccoli, peas, carrots, and green beans into one-inch…

  • Winning

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    Ben East
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    The family sports teams are: sons v dad. Two on one. We compete in soccer, kickball, football. I make the rules. The boys don’t know all the rules. I design the rules to keep the action going, the ball in play, the competition fierce. Among the rules known to the boys: In soccer, no boundaries.…

  • Chinese Propaganda

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    Ben East
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    Now why should we doubt a video created by New China TV?       ##

  • Freedom! …and a Sammidge

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    Ben East
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    The scene last weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina, a state that has recorded 15,000 COVID-19 cases and over 550 deaths. Armed protesters, organized on a Facebook group called Blue Igloo, paraded through downtown carrying shotguns, pistols, and a sweet AT-4 anti-tank rocket launcher. Thanks Facebook! When they got hungry, they marched into a Subway restaurant (remember former…

  • Easter Egg Hunting

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    Ben East
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    I miss the thick green grass of Virginia’s Spring. I’m grateful for the patch of green I have, here in the middle of this concrete megacity, but I miss the wide open lawn where we gathered to hit baseballs every spring and summer. Oval-shaped, canopied in deep shade by a dozen oaks at the edges,…

  • Hold My Hand

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    Ben East
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    We barely walk together anymore. The limited times we venture out, now, the barren streets pose no threat. And anyway, you have long since been “too old” for my protection. Still, you reached for my hand. Hand-in-hand we moved along the sidewalk. In whatever chaotic place, in Mumbai, Washington, Mexico City, across whatever peaceful pasture…

  • No Joking, Dum-Dum

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    Ben East
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    This morning I received the bad news in the form of an email signed, “Sincerely Yours, Dum-Dums.” The disappointment? Dum-Dums lollipops Save Wraps Program is coming to an end! Now, I’m no distinguished and orderly candy wrapper saver (I’m no distinguished or organized anything), but the message did send my already quarantined spirits spiraling ever…

  • Lockdown Countdown

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    Ben East
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    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last night announced a nationwide lockdown, freezing 1.3 billion citizens in place starting at midnight tonight (coinciding with Ugadi, the first day of the New Year on the Hindu calendar). What a relief! For weeks I’ve been grappling with the lack of an end to coronavirus anxiety. Now we know.…

  • The United States Department of State

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    Ben East
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    Referred to as the State Department, State, and DOS, the U.S. Department of State has recently been called by an unfitting new label. I don’t care about the insult. Hearing it called “deep state department” glances off as a meaningless jab. I’ve long inured myself against the public bluster. What concerns me more is the…