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Rolla Peace News December 7, 2021 |
Dear Friends:Editor's note: Please consider writing for our newsletter. It's always very exciting to be able to publish submissions from our readers.In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) From Our Readers: “It is Wrong from Beginning to End.” b) Women's Rights: Forced Marriage and Abortion c) Whence Cometh the Omicron? (Follow the Money) 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM (and most subsequent Thursdays until Peace is established). Please join us this Thursday in saying NO MORE WARS — LET PEACE PREVAIL. The temperature is predicted to be around 60. If you do not feel comfortable joining 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. Note 1: Since there are so few of us, generally 2 or 3, no need to cancel; but let's maintain social distancing. Note 2: In case of inclement weather, vigils may be canceled or terminated early. 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) From Our Readers: “It is Wrong from Beginning to End.” b) Women's Rights: Forced Marriage and Abortion c) Whence Cometh the Omicron? (Follow the Money) From Our Readers: “It is Wrong from Beginning to End.” A reader writes in to say that the Alice in Wonderland quote (“It is wrong from beginning to end.”) that I used last week to describe our War Against Afghanistan is “perfect.” My response: Thank you. I think Lewis Carroll's genius was that he could write so well for both children and grownups at the same time. The Alice books are full of astute social commentary that is universally applicable. Here is one of my favorite passages: “Oh, you can't help that, we're all mad here.” Indeed, what would you call people who in the midst of a pandemic, can't put aside their greed, even as disease spreads wildly among us?Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question. ‘What sort of people live about here?’ What would you call people who in the midst of devastating fire and floods, continue to warm the planet, making the weather still more inhospitable? What would you call people who spend trillions of dollars arming themselves with planet-destroying weapons, while they watch their world crumble from drought and disease? Such people are truly mad. But Lewis Carroll shows us the way out of that mad world. All Alice had to do is look the kings and queens, knaves and executioners in the eye and say, “ Who cares for you? You're nothing but a pack of cards!” Can we look our modern-day royalty in the eye — our politicians, judges, generals, corporate executives, scientists, experts, billionaires, religious leaders, talking news heads... — can we look them all in the eye and say with Alice, “Who cares for you? You're nothing but a pack of cards!” That's the way out! Women's Rights: Forced Marriage and Abortion First the good news: The Taliban bans forced marriage. This is in strict accordance with Islamic (Sharia) Law, which gives the woman the absolute Right to consent to or reject a marriage proposal (although you would never know this from reading the Western press). This Hadeeth is related in Jamal Badawi's “Gender Equity in Islam,” a short essay which I highly recommend. It is posted online at http://www.islamicweb.com/begin/gender.pdf“‘Ibn Abbas reported that a girl came to the Messenger of God, Muhammad, and she reported that her father had forced her to marry without her consent. The Messenger of God gave her the choice ... (between accepting the marriage or invalidating it).’ (Ahmad, Hadeeth no. 2469). In another version, the girl said: ‘Actually I accept this marriage but I wanted to let women know that parents have no right to force a husband on them.’ [Ibn Majah]” More good news: I have seen nothing more in the news about ISIS-K since they attacked a hospital on November 2. It appears that the Taliban is quite capable of suppressing such terrorist organizations which flourished under the corrupt and ineffectual occupation government. Now the bad news: The US Supreme Court will rule soon on a case involving abortion. They are widely expected to rule against a woman's Right to terminate a pregnancy. Islamic scholars hold a wide range of opinions on this subject, although they all appear to agree that in cases where the pregnancy endangers the mother's life, the Right to an abortion cannot be legally denied. Not so in the West, where Savita Halappanavar and Izabela X died as a result of being denied medical intervention as long as the doctors could still detect a fetal heartbeat. Whence Cometh the Omicron? (Follow the Money) The new COVID-19 variant, dubbed Omicron, which is far more contagious than the delta variant is spreading around the world like wildfire. Its genesis is debatable since it differs markedly from all previously known variants and does not appear to be a direct descendant of any of them. It appears to have just arrived on the scene full blown. This article from Sciencemag lays out three possibilities: Each conjecture has its drawbacks. None of these three scenarios seem to fit exactly with the facts as we now know them, so let's look at a fourth possibility:1. It gestated unknown in an isolated community before being transmitted back into the population at large. Eight large strockholders in Pfizer and Moderna have already become $10 billion richer, and the omicron wave is just beginning. Follow the Money!4. It gestated in a laboratory before being released among the population at large. This would seem to fit well with the facts, as we now know them, particularly the lack of known direct ancestors. Strange that none of those smart scientists quoted in the Sciencemag article thought of that. Sometimes what is not said can be more revealing than what is said. 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 |