Nope, not referring to a betting game nor encouraging anyone to do so. I am referring to the usage of numbers and their connotations and denotations. Numbers are impartial; it is we humans who imbue numbers with meaning and effect. The same set of numbers can be twisted and turned so that they represent totally opposed viewpoints and plans. How do we know the truth? Well, at times we do not with so much of facts being buried under heaps of numbers, confusing the smartest person.
Today there are some interesting numbers, at least to me. Yesterday a princess died, an American princess. Nope, not someone from the thin air breathing so-called American royalty. Not one from the fake world of influencers and such. Nope, this was a real princess, descended from the line of royalty of Hawai'i, my favorite place on earth (that is, aside from my little one's home). Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananaakoa is dead at the age of 96. Think of the world and its huge changes during her lifetime. Think of the once flourishing Hawaiian royalty and their ruin thanks to the mostly so-called religious preachers, people who came there supposedly to 'teach' them about true religion and ended up owning the Hawaiian Islands, tumbling royalty from its position and cheating and mistreating the indigenous people cruelly. While she was no angel, simply a person, a human, she took her responsibilities seriously, helped maintain the Iolani Palace, gave out scholarships along with other actions beneficial to and for the Hawaiian people. May she rest in peace, but this is truly a royal ending.
On the other hand, we have numbers that tell us that we humans have not come very far up the ladder of civilization. We continue to believe that pounding the other dude to pieces, or ambushing him, is the way to 'win', to victory. At any cost. We cite the numbers of dead and wounded along with the numbers of weapons of war destroyed or incapacitated. As if they are of equal value, perhaps even more. Will we never learn there are other, more civilized lasting ways by which to stop wrongful deeds, violence perpetrated by one nation or group to another. That perpetuation of only violence as the only truly effective tool of 'diplomacy' is manifestly the wrong path.
"some 95,260" Russian servicemen have been killed in action, including 500 over the past day, before adding that 2,966 battle tanks, 1,931 artillery systems, 211 anti-aircraft defense systems and 404 self-propelled and armored multiple rocket launchers have been destroyed.
He also stressed in a message on his Facebook social network account that 281 aircraft, 264 helicopters, 1,617 drones, 592 cruise missiles, 16 ships and 4,549 vehicles and fuel tanks have also been destroyed. "
The Ukrainians have suffered about the same number of dead and wounded.
But hey, what's a few hundreds of thousands of dead people compared to victory over monsters of weapons and the human monsters who use them. Prevention, early interference, consequences that carry weight - we seem to ignore these tools of the trade till too late in the rush to war, in the blood fever so contagious; hence the figures, the cold numbers. But behind, in, over, under each one of those numbers lies a human being, life shed, lost, taken because we have failed to improve ourselves over the Millenia, striking out with newer versions of rocks and spears and knives. And the rank coppery odor of blood permeates the air and those numbers, oh those numbers, continue to add up.
At times we do outdo ourselves as the unthinkable is thrown at us. Brittney Griner is such a one, a queen made so by circumstances beyond her control. She has behaved with grace and humility in the face of all that has taken place. Here is the description of her by her rescuer who came to take her home.
“I was left with the impression this is an intelligent, passionate, compassionate, humble, interesting person, a patriotic person,” Carstens said. “But above all, authentic. I hate the fact that I had to meet her in this manner, but I actually felt blessed having had a chance to get to know her.”
Griner continued to put that long-gestating energy to work when she landed and took part in a workout where she got to dunk a basketball for the first time in 10 months.
This is a queen.
And then again, we have numbers which translate into rot, its presence in our national home. An ignorant at best judge interfering where she has no jurisdiction, a politician who states openly that if she and another politician, 'true conservatives' - such a false claim - were in charge of the Jan. 6 plans, they would have planned better and been armed. Not that it was wrong. Not that it was treason. Not that a President, a sitting one, colluded, but that a true conservative would have done it better and "they would have won". Does this rise to treason? In my opinion yes, but I am not a lawyer. This is obviously aimed at her dangerous extremist base, aimed at stirring up that rank content in the broken pot.
Numbers are what we make of them What we derive from them. What message they send us.
Do not forget the 13 other American prisoners, political hostages, as they await rescue. let us remember to bring them home also.
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