From the sublime to the ridiculous. From vastly important and grave news which send a chill down your spine to stories that warm the heart. That is the range of the world news, a range which both frustrates and gives relief. Some more comic relief might come in handy, but, well, take what we can get is the motto of the day.
Russia is "incredibly unimportant" to the world's economy as it is apparently nothing but a huge "gas station". That being said, what do we then do with the virtual collapse of Russian and European economies after yesterday's news re Ukraine and its "breakaway" states and the chills in American futures? Unimportant? Nah. Rather important.
Ironically enough, we have yet another connection between Mother Nature and her reckless children - us. A huge bear named Hank the Tank, 500 pounds and HUGE, is frightening residents nearby as he breaks into homes in search of food and whatever goodies his bear mind seeks. Russia's animal chi is the bear and here ya' go! The Russian bear is breaking into homes too, albeit on a larger scale. In Ukraine, in supposed breakaway states such as Donetsk. Nibble, nibble. If you cannot find a comfortable huge bite, well, then simply create stories and then take nibbles and nibbles. The end result is the same. The absorption of yet more territories into Putin's burgeoning would-be New Russian Empire' and a world caught flatfooted, along with a Hobbesian choice of equally harmful choices. Nibble, nibble. Works every time.
Time for a good story? How about those Starbucks employees who noticed a possible attempt to do harm to a student and their clever ruse to see if she needed help. Citizens stepping up to the plate rather than turning a usually blind eye on the situation. Kudos to these barristas. Still some hope for the world.
More good news now? Okay, so...a Byzantine column was found unharmed, uncovered from the literal sands of time on the sand dunes of Ashdod. The past revealing a piece of itself. Perhaps a hint that despite all disasters, mankind might yet survive to add its own piece to the historical trail we leave behind? Maybe. Maybe not. We have ever so much more explosive and destructive fire power, do we not? Worse, wisdom is often not to be found in our lexicon. That is too bad.
Not to forget the awesome power of Mother Nature when she is quite perturbed. Her signals are right there before our eyes, though too often we are blind to them. The San Andreas Fault, that ugly rift in the crust of the world, wondrously ugly, wordlessly, reminding us that we do not have all the answers nor all the correct pathways as disaster awaits us, timing unknown, should we ever take that last straw and place it on that Fault.
Nor should we ever mistake one crack for another. That Black Crack in Utah is yet another reminder that the ground beneath our feet is not always terra firma and we had better remember that.
Last, but certainly not least, not today, is the presence of bad people, evil people, who continue to rain terror and disaster upon us. Via nature. Via humanity and its errors. Via simply evil souls who have no knowledge at all of compassion, of kindness, of empathy. Nor do they care to make even a glancing acquaintance of it. Such a one is the 'passenger' who shot and killed an Uber driver trying to support her children. For her troubles and woes, she was killed. For the few bucks she was forced to hand over. Evil does exist and evil people exist as well. Much to our detriment.
Moreover, with ever increasing strength and presence among us, is the rot from within, the rot that is consuming us, bite by bite, nibble by nibble. We have allowed too often the worst of society to rise to the top, bringing along all the scum it relates to, all the vice it champions, all the 'could care less' attitude towards those they are supposed to serve. They are the corrupt who shout and scream when caught red handed, too often their shouts and screams drowning out the cries of the cheated, the harmed, the endangered. To our great shame and great harm.
Worst of all is the shameful fact of believers who continue to believe despite all the proof otherwise. Too embarrassed? Too deluded? Truthfully, I cannot understand it, am even frightened of it, by it, and what it portends for our future. Or lack thereof.
Okay. Time to get on with the day's schedule. Time to ruminate even further during that day. Time to perhaps, maybe, possibly, see mankind take a right step along the right path? One can hope. We can hope. But we must be in it to do so, not uselessly denying all connection to it. Nope, does not work that way. Not at all.
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