So a port is now open to bring aid to the Gaza Palestinians. It should be an event for rejoicing but no evidence of it from the locals. Perhaps they realize a port can off-load and on-load. Are the hapless Palestinians escorted by Israeli soldiers to be the ones off-loaded in the near future? Some have already been trying the Egyptian border but the cost is exorbitant.
It is only natural to try to escape the Gaza hell and that is exactly what Israel has desired all along -- a vacated Gaza ready to be filled by some of its intrepid settlers, whose behavior often makes them indistinguishable from soldiers. Was this the smiling Netanyahu's plan all along? Has he not been blocking aid convoys and hindering UNRWA staff in their efforts to help? If it happens, Biden will have been party to ethnic cleansing. Watch out, Mr. Biden, it will be quite a legacy for an American president.
As
Edmund Burke is thought to have said, "The only thing necessary for the
triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Good men, it seems,
have their own problems at least in the U.S. where the Happiness Index
shows the country sliding down the scale below the top 20, down to 23
for the first time. Grouped by age, the over 60s are among the top 20,
it is the young, in their twenties, who are the most dissatisfied. Do
they represent the future of happiness in their country? That would be a
sad commentary on our leaders if they are so patently unable to develop
an amenable and purposeful environment for the young. Life without
purpose contributes to malaise, sapping a society's strength and
dynamism. Not to use hyperbole but was that what led to Adolf Hitler in
Germany between the wars?
When
will the US take on a leadership role in the world again? Not of
course by telling people what to do but by example. For example, it
could take the lead in reducing post-industrial temperature rise. As
one of the largest industrial economies (the largest by certain
measures) it could play a substantial role in tackling climate change.
We have heard much talk about it by the president but not much in the
way of concrete steps.
Limiting the use of coal, eating less beef as cows in chewing the cud emit vast amounts of methane which is more potent than carbon dioxide. Do we have to eat that much beef? Where are the public campaigns to educate people both with regards to their own health and the health of the planet.
The window for action is closing. If nothing serious is done, one can expect a cascading effect in a decade and a half. A new report disclosed that the Greenland ice sheet has lost a fifth more mass than previously estimated causing a 0.531-inch increase in global mean sea levels between 1992 and 2020.
The figure might not appear to be much but it sure makes a difference to coastal residents who suffer more high tide flood days, particularly the "king tide" days when the moon is at its perigee, i.e. closest to earth -- usually a new or full moon.
Individual behavior helps. Walking instead of the car for short trips gives exercise and cuts pollution. Cutting down on beef
and replacing it with healthier fish or chicken; even pork is better
for the environment. And why not a vegetarian day once a week. It is
just a matter of habit, folks.
