Friday, February 23, 2024

Nothing Ever Stands Still

Rest and relaxation never last for long, as something always comes up. We are unlikely to ever get bored because, as was said when I worked at the occupational therapy association, humans always seek purposeful activity. Right now, my own purposeful activity is posting on this blog and yours is reading it.

 We’ll start out with Alexei Navalny’s untimely death, moving on to US news, then on to Gaza. After that is a brief look back at the life and legacy of former President Jimmy Carter, still with us at age 99.

President Biden has met with Navalny’s widow and daughter in California, where the daughter attends Stanford University. The family also includes a teenage son.


AP, Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russia's Putin, has died, Russian authorities say

 

Alexei Navalny, age 47, imprisoned in an arctic penal colony, was reportedly laughing, cracking jokes, and looking healthy when he appeared in court the day before his death. Navalny had narrowly survived a previous assassination poisoning, but Putin seems to have succeeded this time.


Telegraph, Alexei Navalny was poisoned by Putin, his widow claims


He was murdered by Putin is what many allege, including some Russians now memorializing Navalny. His mother arrived at the prison, asking for his body, but it has not yet been released pending “chemical analysis.” The widow claims he was poisoned by Novichok, saying that Russian authorities are waiting for any traces to dissipate before releasing his body.


A message in Spanish just now arrived from Armando in Florida, the kidney patient whom I rescued from Cuba decades ago. He recently was able to bring some friends out of Cuba, saying they are already learning to drive. I’d told him that my visiting daughter and I both had Covid, hence his reference to that.

Buenas noches Barbara cómo siguieron de Salud su hija Stephanie y Usted. Este año ha hecho mucho frío en Washington.

La pareja de amigos Cubanos que traje están muy bien, ya saben manejar y están trabajando en la misma compañía que yo trabajando pero en la Ciudad donde están viviendo en Fort Myers florida.

Yo estoy muy bien con deseos de verla en persona aunque sea una hora, no quiero quitarle mucho tiempo. Solamente la invitaría a comer o tomarnos un café en algún lugar Cerca de donde vive.

Pienso planearlo contando con Usted y según cómo este de salud, Armando

 

Flowers blooming all winter on my back porch always lift my spirits.

Fox, Without funding from border bill, ICE contemplates releasing thousands of detainees


Might that really happen? If so, the detainees will celebrate their lucky break.


 

Wash. Post, How much is a baby worth? A $75,000 bonus, this South Korean firm says.

Financial incentives may help increase the birthrate, though $75,000 hardly covers the cost of raising a child.

 

The Hill, 48 percent in new poll say they would support 16-week abortion ban

The birth of children, considered on either a personal or a societal level, often regards offspring in the abstract as a choice, when they will actually be real live people just like their parents, but simply at an earlier and essential stage of human development. For the first time in history, heterosexually partnered couples may have the option of becoming parents or not, while also exerting considerable control over how many children they may eventually have. That means that the prospect may be viewed not as an inevitability or a universal human fate but as a lifestyle choice to be undertaken or not, almost like embarking on a particular profession or buying a home. Of course, once a child is actually born, he or she becomes a unique person with all the problems and rewards entailed. Without parents, there will be no people, and without people, there are no future parents and no human society. So reproduction is important—absolutely crucial really —for the very continuance of human existence and of all human life on earth. Sometimes that elementary fact gets lost when having children is viewed only as a personal lifestyle choice. In fact, having and raising children is necessary for human life on earth to even continue to exist. That point seems obvious but may be overlooked when considered only from an individual perspective

A host of individual choices have added up to creating a serious baby bust in the far east, Europe, and right here in the USA, where women would have to produce an average of 2.1 children each to maintain current population. But the actual US average was only 1.6 in 2020, decreasing even further since. Young people do need to keep coming along to support an ever-growing older population in a reversal of the Malthusian threat, too few babies rather than too many. Japan has already experienced a substantial birthrate plunge and South Korea even more so with only 0.78 births per woman. Korean women seem to like the single life and children there are expected to be born only within a marriage. Nor does either Japan or South Korea welcome immigration. Niger has the world’s highest birthrate with more than 6.5 births per woman. Average life expectancy in Niger is 64 years compared to 77 in the US. Some Scandinavian countries have been offering generous incentives for producing children with only modest results so far. The US could easily offset its own population decline and lower birthrate by allowing more immigration but has rejected that option.

 

Reduction in fertility in many countries, including our own, is due to partnered women with more control over reproduction now choosing to have fewer children, enabling them to enter the workforce more easily. Women in the US and elsewhere are also starting families later, reducing their lifelong fertility. But might the renewed interest in fertility and fetal rights in some parts of the US also reflect a societal need or pressure to produce more babies now, since not enough are being born? The Alabama Supreme Court has opened a Pandora’s box by defining stored frozen embryos as humans, but as long as they remain in storage and are not implanted, they will never develop into anything.

 

If Donald Trump should happen to win the US presidency again, he has promised to further reduce US population through both wholesale deportations and further limits on immigration. Mr. Trump has threatened to create a fortress America by pulling back on all overseas involvements, levying big import taxes, and controlling crime by employing the military here at home. He has also vowed to go after Joe Biden and his family and associates for unspecified offenses. Trump’s diehard fans have been loudly cheering his remarks and are already contributing to his legal fees and fines. If Trump is reelected, do I really want to live in the America he envisions? That may be the right time for me to move back to Honduras.

 

Business Insider, A California man was found with 1 million rounds of ammo and 248 illegally owned guns in his house, state authorities say


This guy made sure he was more than ready to confront any surprise intruder.

 

CNN, 2 men charged with murder in Kansas City Chiefs rally shooting

What otherwise might have been a shouting match or a fistfight ended up killing an innocent bystander and injuring scores of others just because some hotheaded folks were carrying guns.

 

AP, The widow and aides of assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moïse are indicted in his killing

 

This is certainly a bombshell accusation! The widow’s Florida-based lawyer claims not to know her current whereabouts, but she had been in Florida at last report.

 

The rules of war, like all human constructs, keep evolving. What are they now? 

 

CNN, Israeli minister says ground offensive in Rafah will begin by Ramadan if hostages aren’t returned ,,,war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has warned.

 

BBC, Israel sets March deadline for Gaza ground offensive in Rafah

 

March 10 is Israel’s stated deadline. OK, President Biden, who is financing this war  and who’s in charge here?

 

Fox, Biden to go to UN Security Council to force temporary cease-fire on Israel, halt Rafah offensive

 

President Biden has finally begun standing up publicly to countermand Israeli officials who have been calling all the shots so far. Biden has also stated support of a 2-state solution, which Netanyahu has repeatedly and resoundingly rejected.  

 

 

Telegraph, ‘Shameful’ Brazilian president is trivialising the Holocaust, says Israel

Lula is not the only world leader or common citizen comparing Israel’s current offensive in Gaza to the Holocaust, something which must be especially galling for Israelis. He has said, this “isn’t a war, it’s a genocide. It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children. What’s happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.” Lula then reiterated his call for a two-state solution to the conflict, with Palestine “definitively recognised as a full and sovereign state”.  Netanyahu has now accused Lula of being an “antisemite.”

An appeal from Amnesty International has appeared on Facebook:

https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/israel-must-end-its-occupation-of-palestine-to-stop-fueling-apartheid-and-systematic-human-rights-violations/

However, the US, so far, has not called for an immediate ceasefire.

Wash. Post, U.S. isolated at G-20 as Gaza crisis worsens


Israel has continued losing moral, and sometimes financial, support worldwide. The US government is also facing increasing criticism for its continuing support of Israel.

After the Holocaust, much of the world had heralded Israel for providing a safe homeland for beleaguered and often threatened Jews. More than 80 years later, a whole lifetime since, Israel is being judged much like any other nation, with the tide of world opinion now shifting against Israel. Hamas may well have started the current hostilities, arousing initial sympathy for Israel. Yet, Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza has started to negatively affect attitudes toward Jews worldwide, given that Israeli attacks have fallen most heavily not on combatants but on Palestinian civilians of all ages, even on those living in the West Bank. Under Netanyahu, so much goodwill once extended to Israel has now been lost.

While the US is still supporting Israel financially, President Biden has started daring to openly voice warnings about Israel’s war conduct in Gaza. Americans have also become increasingly divided on the war, with many openly turning against Israel. Is Biden now trying to influence Israeli officials by expressing his concerns as Israel’s only remaining friend and key financial supporter, while also urging alternative strategies? Biden’s aims seem somewhat murky, perhaps intentionally so. Bringing home the hostages is a bargaining chip that he has highlighted benefitting the Israeli side. A face-saving way needs to be found for Netanyahu and Israel to step back from attacking the crowded civilian bastion of southern Gaza, as has been repeatedly threatened. Such an attack has not yet occurred, so chalk that up to US pressure. The US probably has very little influence over Hamas and Gazans.



Israel has also been losing support among diaspora Jews, some of whom I know. There are at least 2 anti-Zionist, anti-Netanyahu Jewish organizations now active in the US: J Street and Jews of Conscience. 
Israel has begun recruiting workers from as far away as India to replace Palestinian laborers. 
AP, MIT suspends student group that protested against Israel's military campaign in Gaza 
Reuters, Israel tones down criticism of Vatican's Gaza remarks Israel on Thursday toned down its criticism of the Vatican, saying that remarks by Pope Francis' deputy on the killings in Gaza were "regrettable" rather than "deplorable". Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin had said on Tuesday that Israel's military response to the Hamas militant group was disproportionate and caused "carnage"

Telegraph, Anti-Semitism hits all-time high in ‘explosion of hatred’ against British Jews


Reuters, France's Macron opens door to recognising Palestinian state

Wash. Post, A new effort to punish South Africa is a terrible look for Democrats

AP, 5 patients die as oxygen runs out in Gaza hospital seized by Israeli forces, health officials say


USA Today, 'Massive incursion': Israeli gunfire, shelling bring chaos to Gaza hospital. Live updates


Telegraph, Israel could face war crimes charges if it goes ahead with Rafah invasion Karim Khan, a British lawyer and chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned Israel it could face war crimes charges if it pushes ahead with an invasion of Rafah.

 

CNN, Blinken offers condolences on reported killings of two Americans in West Bank and calls for investigation

 

Reuters, Biden blocks deportation of Palestinians in US, citing conditions in Gaza

 

Deportations of Palestinians from the US are paused for at least the next 18 months.

Protesters in Michigan reacted to the President’s appearance there. Wash. Post, Biden faces major challenge on Gaza in next week’s Michigan primary

 Politico, Arab States Are Giving Palestinians the Cold Shoulder. Here’s Why.

 

Arab states are not eager to take in Palestinian refugees. No one wants Palestinians, it seems. I have been friends with several Palestinian refugees in the US, people really without a country.

Going back in time now with someone who is still with us, former President  Jimmy Carter, now a widower at age 99.

 


President Carter met with my family at the White House in 1979. Mr. Carter, in my opinion, was quite underappreciated during his presidency. He then went on to directly to perform many good works in the company of his wife whom I also knew.

Then we met again in Nicaragua in 1990 as election observers there.


 These photos appear in my Confessions book. Above the one of me on the lower left with Carter is a photo of  champion swimmer Costa Rican president Oscar Arias; then comes former Nicaraguan President Violeta Chamorro; and finally, a supporter of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is carrying a symbolic rooster on his head.

 

A final question now: Why did men once wear wigs? In fact, wigs were often used to cover up syphilis sores or hair loss. Wigs then actually became fashionable when King Louis XIV of France began to lose his hair. The monarch wore long, elaborately curled wigs, sparking a popular trend. 


Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Will You Be My Valentine? Love to my amazing family. Is age only a number? War still rages in Gaza.

Best Valentine’s Day wishes to the members of my amazing family and to my many special friends all around the world. I love you and so appreciate having you all in my life.

I've received these bouquets of virtual flowers.

Below, a friend shared a unique Valentine's Day image. 




Spring seem to have come early in DC. Snow blanketing the north never arrived here.



                                    2024 is also the Year of the Dragon on the Chinese calendar.  

There is much to celebrate in this brand new year, 2024, stretching out so auspiciously before us. Not only is today Valentine’s Day, but February is Black History Month. Among other commemorations, yesterday, Feb. 13, was Fat Tues., marking the end of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Today is Ash Wed., the first of Lent’s 40 days before March 31, Easter Sunday. 









New Orleans held a Mardi Gras parade. 





Now on Valentine’s Day, it's time to ponder the origins of kissing, which goes back at least to 2500 BC in the historical record, probably even much further since chimps and bonobos also still do it. 

 
Black History Month, Fat Tues., Valentine’s Day, Ash Wed., Lent, and finally Easter Sunday, so many commemorations this season!

In keeping all these special dates straight, we may find our own memories getting rather fuzzy, something appearing subtly in our 50’s, more noticeable by our 80’s if we even live that long (as I have). American female life expectancy is now 77 which is, of course, only an average.

An estimated 40% of American adults actually become aware of “senior moments” by at least age 65. So it is not too surprising that President Biden at 81 would display some memory gaffes, and former president Donald Trump as well. This might be an opportunity for Nikki Haley to step up to emphasize her age, which is 52, and to show us that her memory is still sharp.

When I joined the Peace Corps in Honduras in 2000 at age 62, fortunately I already knew Spanish. Most other senior volunteers were struggling to learn the language for the very first time and never were able to master it, having lost much of their ability to acquire a new language. Likewise, people who learn a new language after age 15 or 20 often are unable to shake their foreign accent (Henry Kissinger who came to the US from Germany at age 15 kept his German accent).

Although my bout with Covid seems to be over now, I am still not quite back to where I was before and may never actually get there again. Common illnesses and minor injuries may gradually chip away at our defenses, with recovery taking longer each time until, finally, we can’t manage to bounce back again and our life then seems to enter its final decline.

AP, Defense Secretary Austin hospitalized with bladder issue, transfers powers to his deputy

Having learned his lesson, Sec. Austin, age 70, issued a public statement announcing his hospitalization again at Walter Reed, even giving details, saying it involved a bladder issue. He had recent surgery for prostate cancer, as has been indicated already. Now he has just said he will be going back to his office. 

Prostate cancer is the second most common and second most fatal cancer for men (lung cancer is first for cancer deaths among both men and women). I've known men who have died of prostate cancer.

GMA, House Republicans impeach Alejandro Mayorkas in historic, controversial vote

This ridiculous Republican charade is actually going nowhere, designed only to give supporters a talking point when they run for reelection.

A word here about hybrid work, now trending, something which offers the best of both worlds to hardworking families. How wonderful that option would have been for me as a single mother commuting 5 days a week from Md. to DC, rushing back each afternoon to avoid daycare fines for being late in picking up my kids. Several days a week working from home would have given me a welcome breather.

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Now for a brief dive into the past before returning again to current events.

This blog and its predecessor, honduraspeacecorps.blogspot.com actually span 15 years starting in 2009, with both versions accompanied by photos. My readers and I have all lived through those times and can always go back to review the original postings, still existing somewhere in the cloud.



While scrolling through the predecessor blog, honduraspeacecorps.blogspot.com I came across this photo of my granddaughter and her son sitting out on my front porch in DC back when he was 10 years old.




Below, my great-grandson was even younger then, about 9.




Son Jon appeared with sister Stephanie in Hawaii in September 2017, right after a homeless man had hit him in the eye with a metal pipe, prompting me to bring him here to my home in Washington, DC. But he didn’t stay for long, going next to Winchester, Va., then on to Martinsburg, W Va., and finally, in July 2018, settling down in Berkeley Springs, W Va., where he has lived ever since. He has found a welcoming community there and a job he enjoys. His eye has mostly healed on its own with nearly normal sight restored.

In previous blog postings, I also came across a narrative about my book talk at the Chappaqua Public Library, pre-arranged for Nov. 9, the day right after the 2016 election. I'd looked forward to celebrating Hillary Clinton’s election victory with local folks there in her own hometown, as how could she possibly lose against that crazy buffoon Donald Trump? Of course, she didn’t lose the popular vote, which she carried handily, but the quirks of the Electoral College had handed an upset victory to Trump, who was as surprised as everyone else. So the mood was all doom and gloom during my Chappaqua visit, with only a small turnout for my book talk. Hillary, her face drawn, was seen walking outside leaning heavily on Bill’s arm. Respecting her privacy, I avoided snapping her photo. Many of us were grieving with her. She would have been our country’s first woman president. 



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Returning now back to the present, when so many e-mail messages have come in, as word of my retirement from Amnesty International has begun circling the globe. Here’s one from Europe:

Hi Barbara,

I heard you are stepping back from your role in Amnesty and wanted just to reach out and offer my sincere thanks for all your work…

I know how very hard you have worked over the years and your dedication. I am so thankful that we got to meet in Miami some years ago now at the AGM. When was that, 2016? I still have a copy of your book.

Whenever people ask me about activists in Amnesty, and how they operate, you always come to mind as someone who used to write physical letters and meet in groups, and continued with the same enthusiasm as we all began to meet and mobilize online.

Thank you so much for being such an inspiration.

 

Unfortunately for me, phone landlines are being phased out. Last year, I tried and failed to master an older cell phone, though I might do better with a newer model. If I should lose my landline, I’ll have to give a cell phone another try. 

As has been noted before, most American families these days have no more than 2 children, and some have just one child or none. I managed to raise 4 children as a working single parent, but my own kids, in turn, only have had none, one, or 2 offspring. Family ads and media articles now typically show 2 kids with 2 parents, depicting that as a desirable norm. Indeed, it is difficult for parents with more children to readily join the workforce. I don’t know any families now with more than 2 kids myself, except those living in other countries. On national scale, that means our US population is not being replaced so we do need more immigrants, but neither major party has supported that either. Most immigrants to the US, even if they don’t yet speak English, are already full-grown adults, ready and willing to step right into jobs. While our country cannot accommodate all those seeking entry, we might welcome the few who do manage to get in by making it easier for them to stay and start working right away. Media ads now not only tout goods and services but also are soliciting new employees.


Why do so many seek entry into our country in the first place, when they often don’t speak the language and must always stay on guard? Why are folks from all over the world now crowding our southern border or even trying to enter via Canada? Popular mystique has depicted the US as a promised land, existing right here on planet earth. Even 24 years ago when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras, most local young people were dreaming of going to El Norte (as per my book, Triumph & Hope.)

 

Fox, Texas mother tortured, cut children with knives, attempted to put 3-year-old in oven: police

Quite obviously, not every mother is cut out to be an adequate parent. This Texas woman was trying to manage her 4 kids alone while undergoing mental health challenges. Even for me, parenting 4 kids by myself was hard, though I never disciplined them physically, instead sitting them down in a “time-out” chair to calm us both down. I once slapped son Jon on the cheek when he kept getting up from the time-out chair, though he doesn’t remember that; it was the only time I ever recall using corporal punishment on any child. As a child myself sometimes being hit on the bare bottom with a bristly hairbrush, I vowed never to use such tactics on my own future offspring, and I never did.

While most young people after a surgical gender transition report being satisfied with the change, that may reflect acceptance of a fait accompli only achieved after years of expense and pain and much family disruption. Also, it would be very hard to actually reverse course later on, as even sex-change pioneer Christine Jorgensen found in undertaking such efforts at one point.

Many women after breast augmentation surgery have often had the implants removed later. Therapy or even just the passage of time might reduce the urge to undergo costly and painful surgery to enhance physical appearance which, except in extreme cases, is often of relatively minor importance in a whole life trajectory. If some physical attribute is interfering with ordinary functioning, like seeing, walking, or eating, of course, a remedy should be undertaken, but let’s save finite surgical resources for such vital cases. Even Barbra Streisand’s odd nose proved to be her defining feature.

 

People, King Charles, 75, Announces Cancer Diagnosis, Postpones All Future Engagements for Now


After Charles had a prostate procedure to facilitate urine flow, it was discovered that he, like US Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin, also has cancer, not an uncommon malady at his age. The King’s spokespersons say it’s not prostate cancer, but no further details have been released. It must be hard for men (and women) in the public eye to have such intimate medical details publicly disclosed. They do enjoy the benefits of fame while also experiencing its downsides.

 Among those seeking fame through politics, Donald Trump knows his base will stick with him through thick and thin, no matter what he says or does. If he should even be jailed, they will rally vociferously around the facility in protest. Few Trump supporters ever seem to change their mind. Mr. Trump is still boasting about the mental test that he "aced," a simple screening test to measure dementia. I have taken that test myself also have "aced" it. 

 ABC News, Nikki Haley requests Secret Service protection (after “swatting” incidents at her home)

Nikki is keeping up the fight but has not been overtaking Donald so far. After Trump had called attention to her public appearances without her husband, Nikki revealed that Maj. Michael Haley is a commissioned officer with the National Guard now on deployment in the Horn of Africa.

 

In a recent poll, some 59% of Americans said they consider both Trump and Biden “too old” to be president, yet they are the most likely candidates to be facing voters in Nov. 

Now if faced with that choice, I will have to go with Biden.


Reuters, S&P 500 closes at record high; earnings, rate outlook in focus

While politics may divide Americans, the stock market has mostly been soaring, indicating that most investors remain optimistic about the economy.

 

And former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, now almost forgotten, is still in prison.

 


Meanwhile, on another side of the world, the war in Gaza is still raging as Israel has so far been unwilling to call a halt or even to allow a pause to allow aid into Gaza, while settlers declare “the enemy is to be killed, not fed.” Scores of Palestinian civilians are being killed daily by Israeli forces. The rhetoric on the Israeli side has eerie echoes of “the Final Solution.” One minister suggested dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza. Israel’s apparent efforts to wipe out all Gazans won’t succeed. The resentment caused will give rise to future militants and convert Israel into a pariah state the world over. Granted that Hamas made the first move in the current hostilities, but Gaza’s grievances go all the way back to 1948. Like for many other people, for me the brave image of Israel we once supported has been forever tarnished. A Jewish Holocaust survivor has told me, "At long last, the Teflon coated image of Israel is exposed."

Wash. Post, Scores of Palestinian civilians are being killed daily by Israeli forces.

AP, Live updates | Gaza's death toll mounts as negotiators cite progress on a cease-fire deal

 This growing death toll is nearly all on the Palestinian side.

 He is fighting for his political life and trying to stay out of jail.

The total death toll is Gaza is now approaching 30,000. Israel says it does not target civilians, considering them only “collateral damage,” but they are still dead. Here below is the scene in Gaza after the recent Israeli attack that freed the 2 hostages.  


Wash. Post, Israeli Protesters block aid shipments to Gaza


Secretary Blinken withdrew his plans to oversee Gaza aid delivery after Israeli objections. Is this the tail wagging the dog?

CNN, Israeli strikes deepen panic in Rafah as UN aid chief warns a ground offensive could result in ‘slaughter’


Wash. Post, All sides would benefit from regime change—in Israel  

Amen to that!

 


Telegraph, Joe Biden considers going public with frustration over ‘a--hole’ Benjamin Netanyahu

Decades ago, during World War II, the Allies carpet-bombed Dresden and the US dropped deadly atomic bombs on Japanese civilian populations. Fortunately, unleashing such brutal tactics against civilians has now been condemned worldwide, but Netanyahu seems not to have gotten the message.

NYTimes, A court in the Netherlands ordered the Dutch government to stop exporting parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel.

Telegraph, Body of six-year-old Palestinian girl who pleaded to be rescued found in Gaza The body of a six-year-old Palestinian girl who had begged rescuers to send help after being trapped by Israeli fire has been discovered in Gaza.

In a phone call, she said she was “so scared” and asked to be rescued. 

Netanyahu has called civilians being killed in this war “collateral damage.” This little girl’s death has now put a human face on that collateral damage, perhaps even helping turn the tide of war.

NYTimes, Terrified Palestinians are awaiting an Israeli advance in Rafah, where over half of Gaza’s population is now sheltering.

Fox, Saudi Arabia warns Israel of 'very serious repercussions' if ground invasion of Rafah proceeds

Netanyahu and Israeli forces, so far, seem undeterred by increasing warnings and appeals coming in from all over the world. Only an actual pause in US aid might have any real effect. What is Joe Biden waiting for?

President Biden is under increasing pressure now to halt Israel aid and to stop Netanyahu from the pending attack on Rafah. He can do it, but will he? Human lives hang in the balance.

While war keeps raging here on earth, our planetary home remains a mere tiny spec floating within the vast and immeasurable cosmos. The far-flung universe may well contain other forms of “life,” that is, independently operating self-replicating beings, but so far, earthly humans have only ventured as far as the moon, which appears completely lifeless. Nor has there been any evidence of even so much as a microbe existing beyond our earth—nor is anything significant likely to be found during my own limited lifetime.