Tragedy Becoming Commonplace. I have a confession to make. I am worried that the news has made me numb to tragedy. I hear of murders on the evening news and go—ho-hum.
I did a little research:
An estimated 600,000 people have died in the Ethiopian civil war,
estimated 350,000 in the Russian invasion of Ukraine,
estimated over 200,000 in Sudan since 2000,
estimated over 2,000,000 worldwide from COVID,
estimated 55,000 Palestinians in Gaza,
estimated over 500,000 in Syria,
around 9,000,000 people die from hunger and hunger related diseases each year,
around 40,000 from car wrecks,
around 20,000 from murders.
I know I have almost no responsibility in any of these situations and I do not want to live a life of gloom, but I want my heart to stay sensitive to tragedy.
Having said this, I was saddened to read about “true” genocide in Nigeria. Last week over 200 Christians in Nigeria were massacred by Muslim extremists.
‘This is Genocide’: hundreds slain in Nigeria | The Catholic Register
The incident was not an isolated situation but rather part of ongoing genocide in the region.
85 Christians Killed in Nigeria’s Middle Belt in One Week – International Christian Concern
The conflict is a regional religious conflict and is not supported by the Nigerian government.
I do not stereotype all Muslims, but I have an honest fear and distrust of Muslim extremists and my heart goes out to those suffering from their actions.
An Immigrant Speaks Out for Dialog and Working Together. Actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has weighed in on the recent Los Angeles immigration protests that have since sparked similar movements across the nation.
It was music to my ears wnen he said, “I hope that the locals and the state and the federal government work together,” Schwarzenegger said, calling on bipartisan cooperation to bring immigration reform.
“That the Democrats and the Republicans work together to solve this issue because I think we need immigration reform, and I think they can do it,” he added. “If there’s a will there’s a way. I just encourage them to work this out.”
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that aired the same day, Schwarzenegger argued that “the Democrats and the Republicans have no interest in solving this problem (immigration) because they use that to raise money and so what they do is they just keep pointing the finger at each other and then they’re surprised if all of a sudden we are using our ‘middle finger’ on them.”
“This wouldn’t happen if the politicians would do their work. Think about it,” he said of the protests. “It’s all bogus because I think we can do better than that.”
The Austrian-born Terminator star added: “The whole thing is to do with deportation. Of course, this is a very sensitive subject for me because when I came over to this country, I was living in fear of being deported.”
60 Minutes. This week I watched two segments on 60 Minutes with great interest.
The first was a segment on ICON construction. ICON is a construction firm that uses 3-D printing to build homes and other structures. The motivation behind the developer is to help the poor in our housing crisis, a heart-warming segment. He is also working with NASA for construction on the moon.
3D printing could be construction industry paradigm shift | 60 Minutes – CBS News
The second segment was about interactions between China and the Philippines in the China sea. In a previous blog, I quoted Jaime Dimon about not fearing the Chinese. This week I watched the Chinese Navy interactions with the Philippine Coast Guard/Navy. Watching the interactions made me think we have some reasons to fear the Chinese. They bullied and then damaged a Philippine ship. Then claimed the Philippine rammed them despite clear evidence to the contrary.
Divisive Rhetoric. As most of you are aware I have my bias but I want conversation, dialog and cooperation because dividing our nation weakens us. In my opinion, divisiveness is the way of self-righteousness; dialog the way of humility.
I have disgust for people who engage in violent protest. I condemned the violent and destructive actions in response to Michael Floyd, as well as the Jan 6th riots in response to the misinformation about the election. Similarly, I condemn any violence and destruction of property in the recent protests against ICE methods.
This week we saw an individual perform an extreme violent protest by the cold-blooded murder of Democrats in Minnesota. Everyone I know was appalled by those murders.
However, Senatore Mike Lee posted two items: “This is what happens … When Marxists don’t get their way,” the Utah senator captioned a surveillance photo of the gunman wearing a latex face mask.
Lee also shared another post with the caption, “Nightmare on Waltz Street,” apparently in an attempt at a tasteless play on words involving Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz.
In a rare act of cooperation, Democrats and Republicans played their charity softball game this week. The game has raised a lot of money and is a success.
The game was marred a few years ago when Steve Scalise, congressman from Louisiana was ambushed and shot by an extreme left person, during practice for the game. I am sure some idiots posted stupid things about the incident, but I do not recall any members of congress saying anything as despicable as the Senator. Lee is not some young twit hiding behind the shield of anonymity, he is a United States Senator. His behavior is divisive rhetoric in a tragic situation and a sad state of affairs.
This and That
Democrat criticizes Democrats. I am a James Carville fan because – rightly or wrongly – he has the courage to criticize his side of the aisle.
James Carville Calls On Democrats To Admit They ‘Betrayed’ MAGA Supporters
Good News
Kindness
Community Rallies To Buy Ice Cream Truck For Beloved Tampa Vendor Walking Miles In Summer Heat
Stranger’s TikTok Sparks Over $21,000 In Donations For Elderly Door Dasher
Kindness In Action: How One Child Rallied A Town For Local Veterans
Peace
Jerry
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