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Rolla Peace News February 8, 2024 |
Dear Friends:Editor's notes:In this newsletter is: 1. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Great Rivers Environmental Law Center Returns to Rolla b) United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Under Fire c) Economic Fallout from US Support for Israel d) Biting the Hand That Feeds You: Itamar Ben Gvir and Son Forced to Apologize e) Our Most Warlike President f) Gaza's Teenage Isaac Newton g) Israeli Refusenik, Tal Mitnick, Sentenced to Another 30 Days in Jail h) Ceasefire? Maybe Soon i) More on the Amalekite Genocide j) More on Martin Luther King and Beyond Vietnam k) The Taliban Replaces Opium Poppies with Wheat l) Some Recent Climate Highlights m) Youth v. Old Joe Biden (Juliana v. United States) n) Has The World Already Warmed 1.5°C? — Ask Sponge Bob Great Rivers Environmental Law Center Returns to Rolla Bruce Morrison, president of Great Rivers Environmental Law Center, Natalie Johnson, Great Rivers' new executive director and Linden Mueller, director of development and community outreach will be at Panera in Rolla on Friday, Feb. 16, at 10:00am. This event is open to the public. Please come and welcome Bruce and Linden back to Rolla and Natalie, for her first visit as executive director. In 2007, Great Rivers Environmental Law Center won a landmark victory saving Rolla's Buehler Park from being sold to commercial interests. In their decision, the court ruled, for the first time since 1910, that users of public property in Missouri have standing in court to sue to maintain that use. After years of advocacy by Great Rivers, the Missouri Public Service Commission recently approved the Grain Belt Express transmission line, which will bring renewable energy to Missouri and save consumers an estimated 6% on their electric energy bills. United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Under Fire No sooner did the International Court of Justice rule that South Africa's charge of Genocide against Israel was plausible and that Israel should refrain from killing civilians, then Israel charged in an evidence-free dossier that ten employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were involved in the brief Hamas incursion into Israel of 7 October 2023. On the basis of Israel's evidence-free dossier, the United States and many European nations cut off funding for UNRWA. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans rely on UNRWA for food and essential medicines. Even if Israel's allegations were true, cutting off humanitarian aid would be a crime. Republicans in the House of Representatives have introduced a bill to make the suspension of donations to UNRWA permanent. Israel has bombed the Belgian mission in Gaza. Belgium is one of the few European Countries that did not suspend funding for UNRWA. UNRWA has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Meanwhile the massacre of Palestinians continues. Those who wish to contribute to UNRWA can do so through UNRWA-USA Economic Fallout from US Support for Israel McDonalds and Starbucks, names that are associated with the United States are hurting financially due to boycotts in Muslim nations. I suspect McDonalds and Starbucks are only the beginning. Yemeni (Houthi) attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in support of Gaza have caused shipping prices to skyrocket. While rich countries shirk their responsibility to Palestine, Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, steps up to the plate. Biting the Hand That Feeds You: Itamar Ben Gvir and Son Forced to Apologize Shuvael Ben Gvir, son of Israel's minister of national security, Itamar Ben Gvir, apologized for a remark implying that US president Joe Biden is suffering from Alzheimer's. Itamar Ben Gvir, who once famously refused to apologize for saying that his right to freedom of movement, as a Jewish settler, is more important than the same right for Palestinians, who have lived on the land fo generations, also was forced to apologize for his son's remark. Ironically, the younger Ben Gvir's remark was probably not so far from wrong. Many have noted that Biden appears to be deficient in the brain and memory departments. Our Most Warlike President Joe Biden must really love war. He is now bombing Yemen, Iraq and Syria, and supplying bombs to Israel in its war against Gaza and The Ukraine in its war against Russia. He also appears to be itching to start a war with China. His one claim to fame, withdrawing our troops from Afghanistan, was actually negotiated by the Trump administration before Biden took office. Biden delayed our withdrawal from Afghanistan by three months, and almost scuttled the deal by bombing Afghanistan one last time on his way out. I am simply flabbergasted that the Democratic Party would even consider running Joe Biden for a second term. I am simply flabbergasted that anyone claiming to be “progressive” would even consider voting for Joe Biden in November. Gaza's Teenage Isaac Newton 15-year-old Hussam Al-Attar has developed a wind-powered electric generator to light his family's tent in Rafah where over one million Gazans are now huddled. Al-Attar says: and“Newton was sitting under an apple tree when an apple fell on his head and he discovered gravity. And we here are living in darkness and tragedy, and rockets are falling on us, therefore I thought of creating light, and did so.” Al-Attar dreams of becoming a scientist like Isaac Newton and creating an invention that will benefit not only the people of the Gaza Strip but the whole world. Perhaps he will one day help create a world that runs on non-polluting renewable energy.“I was very happy that I was able to make this [lighting system], because I eased the suffering of my family, my mother, my sick father, and my brother's young children, and everyone here who is suffering from the conditions that we live in during this war.” Meanwhile, Palestinians like Al-Attar are referred to as “human animals” by Israelis. Israeli Refusenik, Tal Mitnick, Sentenced to Another 30 Days in Jail After spending 30 days in jail for refusing induction into the Israeli Armed Forces, Israel attempted to induct Mitnick again. Mitnick refused induction a second time and was sentenced to another 30 days. Mitnick has stated: Tal Mitnick and others like him constitute the conscience of Israel, a nation, which, like ours, has been poisoned by perpetual war.“My refusal is an attempt to influence Israeli society and to avoid taking part in the occupation and the massacre happening in Gaza. I’m trying to say that it’s not in my name. I express solidarity with the innocent in Gaza. I know they want to live; they don’t deserve to be made refugees for the second time in their lives.” Ceasefire? Maybe Soon Negotiations are ongoing. Meanwhile the massacre of civilians continues and Palestinian guerrillas, with no air-force, navy or heavy weapons continue to fight back effectively against an Israeli military, well-equipped with the latest offensive arms from the United States. I am so very impressed by the Palestinian guerrilla fighters in Gaza. I had thought they would be quickly wiped out in the Israeli onslaught. But I was wrong. After four months of fighting, they remain an effective military force and have forced Israel into negotiations that may lead to some freedom from Israeli domination for Palestine. They have exposed the Israeli Defense Forces to the entire world as the brutal, lawless bullies that they are. Pray for a quick end to the war and the suffering. Peace is Precious. More on the Amalekite Genocide While Binyamin Netanyahu, as justification for the Palestinian Genocide, has cited 1 Samuel 15:3: I have seen no discussion of Exodus 17:Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. One might surmise from the juxtaposition of verses 6 and 8 that Moses had tapped into an underground water source, likely belonging to the Amalekites. So, what followed was probably a battle over water rights. Whether anyone proposed to share the water source is not said. Anyway, in the ensuing battle, the Israelites prevailed.6: Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. I find it highly unlikely that God would condemn a people to extermination for trying to defend their water source. And if He were to do so, I'm sure he would take care of it Himself.13: And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Indeed, God has already engineered five great extinctions in which many many species were exterminated. He appears to be working on the sixth great extinction as I write.Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. —Romans 12:19 In any case the Amalekites were not totally wiped out as they show up again in 2 Samuel 8:12 as one of the many tribes and nations defeated by King David. Note: The vengeance is mine quote above is a restatement of Deuteronomy 32:35. All biblical quotes above are from the King James Version. Disclaimer: I am NOT a biblical scholar. More on Martin Luther King and Beyond Vietnam In a previous newsletter, I suggested a rereading of Martin Luther King's speech: Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. Here's a paragraph from that speech. Suggestion: substitute Netanyahu for Diem, Hamas for VC, Islamists for communists and Gaza for both the South and the North. The Taliban Replaces Opium Poppies with Wheat“Perhaps a more difficult but no less necessary task is to speak for those who have been designated as our enemies. What of the National Liberation Front, that strangely anonymous group we call "VC" or "communists"? What must they think of the United States of America when they realize that we permitted the repression and cruelty of Diem, which helped to bring them into being as a resistance group in the South? What do they think of our condoning the violence which led to their own taking up of arms? How can they believe in our integrity when now we speak of "aggression from the North" as if there were nothing more essential to the war? How can they trust us when now we charge them with violence after the murderous reign of Diem and charge them with violence while we pour every new weapon of death into their land? Surely we must understand their feelings, even if we do not condone their actions. Surely we must see that the men we supported pressed them to their violence. Surely we must see that our own computerized plans of destruction simply dwarf their greatest acts.” In a previous newsletter, I remarked that the Taliban has cut opium production by 95% since defeating the invaders. Farmers are now growing wheat for the people to eat instead of opium poppies to feed the addictions of people living in wealthy countries. What an insidious terrorist plot! feeding hungry people at home instead of feeding addictions abroad. Some Recent Climate Highlights The ONI (Oceanic Niño Index) increased to 2.0 over the November 2023 through January 2024 period. The climate models are predicting an abrupt change from El Niño to La Niña conditions this summer. CO2 concentrations at Mauna Loa rose to an average 421.36ppm over the 12 month period ending January 2024. CO2 emissions worldwide rose 1.1% to 37.55 billion metric tonnes in 2023. Copernicus Climate Change Service (CCCS) estimates that the 12 months ending in January 2024 were 1.52°C warmer than the 1850-1900 average. The last eight months were all the warmest on record with that same name. Note: NOAA will release their January global temperature estimates on the 14th. NOAA's recent estimates tend to be somewhat cooler than CCCS's. Two atmospheric rivers dumped astronomical record-breaking quantities of rain on California. Heat and drought led to unprecedented fires, which have killed over 100 people in central Chile. Youth v. Old Joe Biden (Juliana v. United States) Following in the footsteps of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the Biden administration, through legal shenanigans, again attempts to delay the case, Juliana v. United States, in which 21 young plaintiffs allege that the government's fossil-fuel based economy infringes their constitutional right to a stable environment. The case was filed in 2015 and is yet to come to trial. Has The World Already Warmed 1.5°C? — Ask Sponge Bob Climate scientists have been using the period 1850-1900, the earliest period for which we have global temperature records, as a proxy for pre-industrial times. However, recent research by Malcolm McCulloch et al. on 300-year-old sponges shows that the climate had warmed 0.5°C by the late 19th Century, thus invalidating temperature anomalies from the pre-industrial period. According to McCulloch's research we blew through the 1.5°C barrier between 2010 and 2012 and we're on track to surpass 2.0°C in the next few years. I feel vindicated by this research as several years ago I wrote: However, far more importantly, I continued:“I don't get it. Why don't they just drop the ‘pre-industrial’ and say they are measuring warming from the latter half of the 19th Century? And just how do they know that 1850-1900 is a good representation of pre-industrial temperatures when there are so few direct measurements? And which part of the pre-industrial period are they talking about? This is important. The historical record shows periods, such as during the 14th and 15th Century, in which the climate changed abruptly.” Yup, we surpassed 1.5°C over a decade ago. Time to stop fighting each other and fight climate change instead.“In truth, I think it misguided to focus on 1.5°C, 2.0°C or any other number. I think it misguided to focus on the late 19th Century, pre-industrial times, or any other period. It is distracting. We already know what needs to be done; and we know that it needs to be done now. It is quite clear and simple. We must all work together now to stop warming the Earth. We must focus on drastically reducing our carbon footprint immediately. That means giving up our addictions to fighting wars, burning fossil fuels, eating meat, building with concrete, wearing fashion clothing, having lots of babies, traveling by air, etc. etc. etc. It means planting trees, nurturing forests, walking and riding bicycles, eating locally raised foods, etc. etc. etc. Are we ready to do all that? Nothing less will do. It's hard to give up so many addictions all at once; but it may just save us from extinction.” Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesdays (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Rollaites for Peace: near the top of rightmost column).Wage peace, Tom yushasager (at) yahoo.com |