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Rolla Peace News January 30, 2018 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter013018.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, February 1, 2018 2. BEHIND THE CURTAIN 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) DONALD TRUMP CARTOON b) FROM OUR READERS: AHED TAMIMI c) SCIENCE ROUNDUP i) Laser technology ii) Evolution iii) Horse pox iv) Alzheimer's 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, February 1, 2018 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, February 1, 2018, (and all subsequent Thursdays until peace is established) from Noon to 1:00 PM. Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be in the 40s. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. 2. BEHIND THE CURTAIN For a skillful analysis of the Trump presidency, and where it is leading us, read Chris Hedges' article. While Trump plays the buffoon and distracts the people with his ridiculous excesses, behind the scenes our democracy is being dismantled piece by piece. As Hedges describes it: “Trump, who has no inclination or ability to govern, has handed the machinery of government over to the bankers, corporate executives, right-wing think tanks, intelligence chiefs and generals. They are eradicating the few regulations and laws that inhibited a naked kleptocracy. They are dynamiting the institutions, including the State Department, that served interests other than corporate profit and are stacking the courts with right-wing, corporate-controlled ideologues. Trump provides the daily entertainment; the elites handle the business of looting, exploiting and destroying.”There's no point in blaming the Republicans for this. The people with the real power have no loyalty to any party, any country, any God, or anything else. Their interest is only to increase the obscene amount of wealth and power they already have; other people don't matter. There are plenty of rich Democrats who are giving lip service to representing ordinary citizens. If they are elected officials, they will vote against some of the more obvious Republican money and/or power grabs, but if you look closely, they are voting with the Republicans on many of the bills being passed that subtly undermine the well-being of the people. Trump is not really the problem; he is just a useful tool for those who have the power and want to keep it — and who do not care at all for the rest of us. And he is the extreme embodiment of the qualities the power-hungry have in common: lack of empathy, self-centeredness, and where most people have a heart, a hollow well that no amount of wealth or power can fill. 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) DONALD TRUMP CARTOON b) FROM OUR READERS: AHED TAMIMI c) SCIENCE ROUNDUP i) Laser technology ii) Evolution iii) Horse pox iv) Alzheimer's DONALD TRUMP CARTOON I kind of feel bad about making fun of Donald Trump. After all, as I've pointed out before, he is only doing what his predecessors have done, albeit in a somewhat more buffoonish style, generating a somewhat greater backlash. (see Helen's article above.) But, on the other hand, he is such an inviting target. So, without further ado, here is a link to my latest cartoon. Note: With Spring-training camps opening in two weeks, I couldn't resist the baseball metaphor. Let's hope the Cardinals have a better season this year. FROM OUR READERS: AHED TAMIMI A reader writes in suggesting that the photo of Ahed Tamimi, the slight 16-year-old Palestinian girl who faced down heavily armed Israeli soldiers, might have been “a faked shooting of a Palestinian teenage girl by an actor dressed in an IDF uniform.” My response: First, it was not a shooting. Second, there is no need to fake shootings of Palestinian children by Israeli soldiers. It's a common occurrence. In fact, Ahed's younger cousin Mohammed had been shot in the face by Israeli soldiers less than 24 hours before the incident involving Ahed. At the time Ahed faced down the Israeli soldiers, cousin Mohammed was in critical condition. The incident involving Ahed has gone viral. You can read about it all over the internet, including the mainstream Israeli press. In fact, she will turn 17 tomorrow in an Israeli prison. You can sign a birthday card for her, via Jewish Voice For Peace. SCIENCE ROUNDUP i) Laser technologyThree years ago, I suggested that we might soon be able to beam some of the Earth's excess heat back into space with lasers. Since then there have apparently been some important breakthroughs in laser technology coming out of China, as well as other places. So I'm wondering: How close are we? Any laser scientists out there want to respond? ii) EvolutionResearch on Galapagos finches suggests that species can evolve in a matter of three generations rather than the hundreds of generations previously thought necessary. This is important because humanity may not have hundreds of generations left to adjust to a rapidly changing climate, largely of its own making. It also makes me wonder about the great die-offs of the past in which as many as 95% of all species are thought to have gone extinct. Were they really die-offs? Or maybe just examples of evolution proceeding at an unheard of pace. iii) Horse poxSix month's ago I reported on how a group of scientists synthesized horse pox, a close relative of small pox, with a budget of $100,000. The paper has now been published. So if you have $100,000 and a little genetic know-how; you could probably synthesize small pox which was as much as 95% fatal to Amerindian tribes that had no previous exposure and immunity. When I was a child, I was vaccinated against this dred disease. Since the 1980's, when smallpox was declared eradicated, few have been vaccinated. iv) Alzheimer'sCollaboration between the United States and Cuba on research into Alzheimer's has been stopped in its tracks by the Trump administration's reinstatement of sanctions on Cuba. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Grassroots Rolla: near the top of rightmost column). If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Helen helenm (at) fidnet.com |