It already is beginning to feel like a long time ago, yet less than one week ago, my son and I were up at Niagara Falls, enjoying a free music concert and some fireworks, and ushering in what seemed to be a hopeful new year. He had some resolutions for the new year, as did I. We celebrated, and enjoyed a fun evening. That good feeling lasted about one day.
By January 2nd, the reports of the severity of the Australian bushfires began to show the extent of the damage. Somewhere between 500 million to one billion animals were killed. The devastation that Australia will face in rebuilding after this horrific tragedy has been likened to rebuilding after the devastation of war.
Then, on January 3rd, it was even scarier headlines, as Trump bragged about killing an Iranian general, on Iraqi soil. In typical fashion, he made it a partisan issue, keeping Republican Congressional members abreast of the situation, while keeping everyone else in the dark. Also in typical fashion for Trump, he claimed that this action of killing the general of a foreign nation would not spark a war, but would prevent one.
Trump boasted about killing the Iraqi general, in a move widely regarded by some as the start of a war with Iran, and one that might spark an even wider conflict. Some are even suggesting that this might be the beginning of World War III.
Now, we have heard plenty of people talk about that kind of thing before, and it is rarely as bad as all that, although this being the beginning of yet another World War certainly is not an impossibility. Also, let’s face it: if there has ever been an American leader capable of starting World War III, Trump would be it.
Trump boasted about killing the Iraqi general, in a move widely regarded by some as the start of a war with Iran, and one that might spark an even wider conflict. Some are even suggesting that this might be the beginning of World War III.
Now, we have heard plenty of people talk about that kind of thing before, and it is rarely as bad as all that, although this being the beginning of yet another World War certainly is not an impossibility. Also, let’s face it: if there has ever been an American leader capable of starting World War III, Trump would be it.
Almost buried beneath these screaming headlines was yet more grim news: China has sent someone regarded as an enforcer to Hong Kong. Yes, Luo Huining will replace Wang Zhimin as the head of the powerful Central Liaison Office in Hong Kong. According to an article by Keith Bradsher of the New York Times (see link below):
The move came two months after the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee called for measures to “safeguard national security” in Hong Kong, although few details have been released.
No way to tell if this will lead to a crackdown and, if so, what that might look like. We all remember what happened in Beijing back in 1989.
Then January 5th, not even a week into what feels like what is shaping up to be a crazy year, the Iraqi parliament voted to get American troops out of that country. Donald Trump, in turn, said that he would refuse to remove the troops until Iraqis paid the United States back for an American air base there. You know, that logic that they owe us, essentially, for invading their country to begin with, and then owe us some more for giving all of those crooked corporations no bid contracts in rebuilding the country that we largely destroyed, both by our “Shock and Awe” military tactics, as well as massive and severe sanctions in the nineties and early 2000’s that were responsible for an estimated 500,000 deaths to Iraqi children.
God! We should be begging them for forgiveness, and instead, we have this fake, fat, ignorant and arrogant joke of a leader demanding that they literally pay us for what we did. He is threatening massive sanctions again.
Could it be any clearer that this man is unstable, and completely unfit to hold the powerful office he now holds? Either he is lying with his claims that he is not trying to start a war with Iran – and who would be surprised by that? – or he is even more naïve, or even outright stupid, than anyone could possibly believe. Is either alternative comforting in the least?
And many seem to believe that war with Iran, with all of the complications surrounding it, might trigger an actual World War III.
Not sure if that is the start of World War III, although that region of the world feels like the 21st century version of the powder keg that the Balkans were in the early 20th century.
Can we start this year over?
Not exactly a great start to this new year!
That said, I wanted to make this year work out for me, personally. There are things that I want to achieve, and which it is up to me to try and get done, whatever else may happen. The world always seems to be plagued by bad news, that is nothing new. We keep getting “leaders” like the one currently occupying the Oval Office who are more interested in fattening their wallets than in doing whatever is best for the country, or indeed the world.
So, I am taking the well-known word of American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, who came up with the beautiful sentiment known as the Serenity Prayer, to try and remind me that, as grim as the news today appears to be (and it sure does seem decidedly grim), there appears to be little that I can do about it, other than continually trying to raise some kind of awareness to a world – and particularly to one country – that seems to have mastered the art of indifference to the larger problems facing it. Here is the Serenity Prayer:
Not exactly a great start to this new year!
That said, I wanted to make this year work out for me, personally. There are things that I want to achieve, and which it is up to me to try and get done, whatever else may happen. The world always seems to be plagued by bad news, that is nothing new. We keep getting “leaders” like the one currently occupying the Oval Office who are more interested in fattening their wallets than in doing whatever is best for the country, or indeed the world.
So, I am taking the well-known word of American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, who came up with the beautiful sentiment known as the Serenity Prayer, to try and remind me that, as grim as the news today appears to be (and it sure does seem decidedly grim), there appears to be little that I can do about it, other than continually trying to raise some kind of awareness to a world – and particularly to one country – that seems to have mastered the art of indifference to the larger problems facing it. Here is the Serenity Prayer:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
Below are the two articles that I used in writing this particular blog entry. Of course, the news about the Australian wildfires, and especially the news about Trump's targeted drone assassination of Iranian General Soleimani, has dominated the headlines, to the point of being pretty much unavoidable. However, I had to do a little more digging about the China/Hong Kong news, as well as specifics about the sanctions and demand for compensation that Trump threatened Iraq with. Here are the two specific sources used here for those news stories:
Donald Trump threatens Iraq with sanctions, says US won't leave unless 'they pay us back' for air base by John Fritze of USA TODAY, January 5, 2020:
China Replaces Its Top Representative in Hong Kong With an Enforcer by Keith Bradsher, Jan. 4, 2020:
After months of protests and an electoral defeat for pro-Beijing political parties, an official with a record of difficult assignments is on the way.
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