Day of the Week –
Friday. I don’t know about you, but I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that the Israel-Iran war has only been going on for one week. It seems like much longer…and it will be.
……….But More Than That -
Today is the Summer Solstice. Today is my favorite day of the year. Today we get to celebrate the most daylight hours and minutes, until this same time next year. Of course, as I always point out on this day, from here on in until the Winter Solstice (Glenn’s favorite day of the year), the days will continue to shorten ever so slowly. So slowly, in fact, that you will hardly notice until Daylight Savings goes away around Halloween time and it hits you square in the face. But for now, forget about that, and celebrate the light until the late evening. You are welcome.
Quote –
“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.” Douglas Adams, quoted in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. But hey, we all make mistakes, even god.
Correction –
The whiplash policy reversals of the Trump team on their immigration actions do not only impact on the industries that I cited, agriculture, construction, and hospitality. It also impacts on many other industries that supply those sectors, such as the laundry facilities that supply linens and uniforms, as well as many other vendors supporting a vast segment of our society. Sorry to have missed that, Brad.
Why Care About Israel –
Being a Jew and being one who has always been interested in and informed about international affairs, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that for most people out there, the concept of international relations and foreign policy is much more ephemeral. And so the question of why the typical American should care about what happens to Israel is a legitimate question. I found this article by Jonah Goldberg to be very good on the issue. There are segments of society that feel an affinity to Israel for differing reasons. Many Christians support Israel for religious reasons. Many Jews feel the same for religious reasons, as well as the concept of Israel being a safe refuge from the centuries of persecution around the world. There are those who see Israel as a fellow traveler of Western values and a vanguard against the extremism of Islamists in the Middle East. But what Goldberg points to more than anything is that Israel is an ally under attack. Just as we would care about an England under threat, or Ukraine under threat, or Taiwan under threat, we come to the aid of our friends against those who threaten our values, who threaten the global order. The main difference here is that Israel has been under such threat ever since its formation. But I suppose the answer is that we care because it is who we are as a people, how we view the world, and how we view our role in it. We come to the aid of those who need it. That is how it has been for a long time, and I truly hope that it is a trait that we continue into the future.
Congressional Resolution –
And that now brings me to segments of Congress who do not feel that way. I would suggest that no one wants to go to war, or at least no sane person wants to go to war. War should always be the last resort, that action that you take when you have exhausted all other options, or when events on the other side of the equation leave no other options. And that, my dear readers, is where Israel found itself last week. I won’t go into all of the details as you have already been exposed to them ad nauseam. But it seems that there are members of Congress for whom war should never be the option, or at least are willing to let things go to a place where that option has been determined for you by an adversary. And it is those folk who are pushing a resolution in Congress that would prohibit Trump from helping Israel stamp out Iran’s nuclear program without their approval…which you know will never come. For years, we heard from multiple administrations that a certain country would never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. Even as that country inched forward, diplomacy and negotiation were not just the primary actions, but the sole actions. But inch by inch, that country got closer and closer, with each move incremental enough to avoid triggering any kinetic reactions. And now, contrary to decades of pronouncements, North Korea is a nuclear power. Well, countries learn from watching events beyond their borders, and Iran was on the same path. A path that would be terminal for Israel and would put the entire Middle East at their mercy. Yet, the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party and the Tom Massie wing of the Republican Party want to limit Trump’s ability to end Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites. Admittedly, I have no more insight into the actual status of Iran’s nuclear program than you, but from all accounts, they were close and moving closer. For the IAEA to finally, after twenty years of watching Iran violate its non-proliferation treaty obligations, call them out, you know things were bad. And the response by the Iranians was to double down rather than express a Mea Culpa. All indications were that they were pushing forward and that time was out, not just running there. So, for these folk who want to restrain Trump’s ability to provide the deciding blow to the Fordo facility, buried deep in a mountain, just admit that you are ok with Iran becoming a nuclear power and all that that entails. Admit it.
Humans on the Move –
It is well understood that humans evolved in Africa. It is also true that most species on the planet evolve to survive in the environment in which that evolution occurred. So why and when did homo sapiens spread out and learn how to survive in almost any locale in which they found themselves? Anthropologists have recently done a massive study and pinpointed the time to about seventy thousand years ago. It was around then that an ice age changed the climate of much of Africa. And in the aftermath of that event, which took thousands of years to occur, many human populations were separated and adapted to new environments. That then led to a time about fifty thousand years ago when the species began to explore beyond their native locale and encountered climates and ecosystems to which they were then better adapted to master. As that skill became more and more instilled, almost no place on Earth was prohibitive to our survival. And here we are, having laid waste to way too much of the planet.
……….Theory –
What I am about to write is something that I read, and I am not necessarily presenting it because I believe it, but it brings up an interesting question. In relation to the spread of our species across the planet over the past fifty thousand years, does any of that explain the cultures that developed inasmuch as they impact on technological progress? In other words, as the hypothesis goes, those groups that left Africa and ventured into regions where they had to adapt were more prone to develop the tools and advance the technologies that allowed them to survive. And that ability to adapt was incorporated into a culture of problem-solving that resulted in the development of technologies that you did not see in those groups that remained in Africa. While it is an interesting thought, I can certainly see many exceptions to this as well. Native Americans made it to America, but also did not develop advanced technologies or show any interest in doing so. Early Muslim societies were leaders in science, astronomy, and philosophy, but lost interest as a more strict interpretation of Islam descended upon their region. The issue of what sparks a cultural drive to develop new technologies to solve problems, to create efficiencies, to promote better general welfare, is intriguing. I am sure it is more complicated than one thing, like moving locations, but it might be that it is one component among many.
Food for Thought –
Hey, I am on vacation, so…. And one of my readers, now a former reader, was complaining about the fact that I was not including any food prepared by me. He was actually quite insulting in stating that he, and many of you, were only reading for my cooking. If that is the case for any of you, please note that there are many sites out there that do a much better job on the cooking front, so feel free to go there. And for the rest of you, I apologize for this diatribe, but I am kind of pissed.
Conclusion –
With all of the shit happening out there, it sure seems like it is all going quite slowly. And time has a way of making a simple, straightforward issue more complex, of muddying the waters. I can only hope that the issues we face, domestically and internationally, do not drag out in a way that makes even success look like failure. Stay healthy and be good to each other.
Me.