About me, Diane V. McLoughlin: I am a writer as well as a peace activist; a proud Celt descended from Irish Kings and Welsh bards.  (It's actually true.)  I do not live in a castle. I began my website in 2008. If the press doesn't ferret out the truth then the people, even politicians who have good intentions, have a harder time discerning whether or not what they are told - or what they have always assumed - is true.   There have been too many wars (Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, to name a few) that have proceeded based on misinformation and lies.  I am particularly interested in the Israel-Palestine conflict.   There is too much disinformation spread about what is going on there, as well. I post editorial and political analysis of my own along with recommended selections of some of the best independent political writing on the web that I have read myself.  Many of the recommended links, as well as news feeds I have subscribed to, are to be found on my home page posted in my Friendfeed.   Google had an even better system, Google Reader, but they have inexplicably cancelled that service as of November, 2011.   (Thousands of Google Reader users have filed petitions imploring Google to reconsider.  I have a feeling that Google didn't realize Google Reader's tremendous potential.) I use my middle initial 'V' because there are quite a few Diane McLoughlins  with the exact same spelling as me, as it turns out. One Diane McLoughlin is a talented jazz sax player who apparently lives in Great Britain.  So, the 'V' helps avoid confusion.  Actually, I think it would be a lot of fun to do a number with the sax-playing Diane. (I love to sing!) At the upper right-hand side of my home page is the picture I picked to be my icon (shown, right).  This masterpiece is entitled, 'Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee'. It was painted by the artist Rembrandt.    I wanted an image that depicted a ship on a stormy sea to represent the times we live in. Searching in Google Images, I liked this one the best, even though I am not religious (I'm agnostic.)  Ironically, the painting itself has fallen on hard times.   It was stolen from a gallery in 1990, according to Wikipedia, and has yet to be recovered. With an article I wrote during the 2008 American election cycle, Vote for Hope, I wanted to find a nice picture to post with it.  I happened upon what is my second favorite image, entitled, 'The Personification of Hope'. As you can see, it portrays an angel. Also painted hundreds of years ago, the painting embodies the hopes and prayers of sailor's wives for their husbands.  She looks how I feel about war and peace.  Everyone home safe with their loved ones, the world made safe from war. I hope for that. Thank you for visiting! Diane V. McLoughlin contact home About the ads on this site:  It can be a tough call trying to decide whether to have advertising. Some independent writers and publishers are disdainful of them, relying solely on donations. In these hard economic times I have come down in favor of ads. Some I am able to select myself and I try to choose wisely. Others are automatically placed in the Google ads boxes, which can be interesting in their randomness. I try my best to filter out annoying ones.  Bottom line: Ads help me, they help businesses and they help people find stuff. When businesses are able to extend their reach it helps them grow, and growing means jobs. Good!