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Newsletter n°116

June 2023

« Who can make the muddy water clear ? Let it be still, and it will gradually become clear. »

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 3

« Those sharp weapons are instruments of evil omen, and not the instruments of the superior man ; he uses them only on the compulsion of necessity. Calm and rest are what he prizes ; victory by force of weapons is to him undesirable. To consider this desirable would be to delight in the slaughter of men ; and he who delights in the slaughter of men cannot get his will in the kingdom. »

Tao Te Ching 31

Of course, I am just like you. This book, I had found it in a lovely bookstore, for students and scholars, on the right side of the road, after Qalandiya, on my way to a bilingual school, with pupils on both sides, Jews and Arabs. Was it Hand in Hand, in Katamon, with its 1,350 Muslim, Jewish, and Christian students ? I don’t think so, Katamon is in the South of Jerusalem. Anyway, the thing is, there is not just one open educational place for both Jews, Muslims, and others, in the Land. You should investigate.

https://www.handinhandk12.org/i-want-to-study-something-that-will-help-me-make-change-alma-alumna-of-the-max-rayne-hand-in-hand-jerusalem-school/

Of course, people don’t know, flooded as we all are by these social networks and systems of depressing or irrelevant news, night and day. And, of course, once I got lucky enough to walk into this heavenly, unexpected place on my way, I read the book rather fast, and then forgot about it.

But, basically, you know, no alibis, no excuses. We all have free access to Google, Wikipedia, and the such. It’s all there, for all to seek and find. So, why the Chinese faces to start with ? As a respectful salute to Professor Gui Haichao, who was the first Chinese civilian to go up into space, and join the Chinese Space Station there, Tiangong, on May 31, 2023. As for the lady in a spacesuit, she is Liu Yang, a well-respected major in the air force, the first Chinese woman to ever fly up, as far back as June 2012, and again, lately, on June 5, 2022, to join Tiangong. Of course, nobody knows. Either about Tiangong, or about Liu Yang and Professor Gui. Myself, until Gui Haichao went up, a few days ago, I knew nothing of Chinese folks up there.

I had not been informed. As if this was a non-subject, of zero importance. As if such a Chinese endeavour, in the West, did not matter. Well, you should keep an eye open for the Chinese foray into the Middle East at least.

Does anybody remember the horrific war in Yemen, between Iran-supported Yemeni Houthis, and the Arabia-backed Yemeni loyalists, which left 400,000 dead in its bloody wake ? Who else but the Chinese got the Iranians and Arabs together for a deal ? And who remembers, for that matter, the 600,000 dead in Ethiopia, from « the most murderous conflict of the 21st century » ? One million human beings wiped out from the surface of the Earth, all in the same limited sector of Africa/Arabia. Not to mention the 300,000 killed in Syria.

Reminding us of the moonwalker’s dismay and despair, Edgar Mitchell, when he was watching it all from up there.

This « feeling of deep despair – the darkest, deepest despair. The most agonizing emotional pain I had ever felt, as I contemplated man and his condition on Earth, behaving like ancient warring tribes fighting over food and territorial rights ». The good news : these three wars are now over. Leaving us with the tantalizing question : what did these 1,300,000 persons die for ? Since all wars stop in the end.

Take it back to our two previous Newsletters, 114 and 115. What are we driving at ?

What was it we stated in May 2023 ? That we had other burning concerns than the antediluvian quarrel of the « Arabs » and the « Jews », when the Islamic Jihad in Gaza fired hundreds of rockets at its neighbour, suddenly.

First concern, the Rising Global Heat. Second, the current Threat of World War (US & Euros vs Russia).

And what do we have now, as of June 7, 2023 ?

On one hand, that heavy orange smoke all over New York, that spreads as far North as Quebec to South of Washington, D.C., due to the two hundred forest fires in Canada out of control.

On the other hand, this liquid mass of water, over four times the Sea of Galilee, flowing furiously through that broken dam, since 2 :50 in the night of Monday to Tuesday. June 7, 2023. Thrusting tens of thousands of people out of their homes, wading through muddy waters, saving what they can in bags and suitcases. On the Eastern coast of the US, tens of millions are gasping for breath, wearing masks again to survive, as the new virus is this monster manmade warming that sets countless extents of woods ablaze, like never before. Like some insane rerun of September 11, 2001, this time on a much wider scale. People will not die in a few minutes, but from respiratory diseases and distress, through the weeks, and months. Where to go ? Where to live ?

https://twitter.com/i/status/1666550214302347267

https://twitter.com/i/status/1666508242959081490

Please watch the videos taken in Manhattan.

September 11 was a concerted attack aimed at three specific targets, taking three thousand lives. From a precise enemy, leading to the American invasion of Afghanistan, with a toll of over 160,000 killed – and what results, after twenty years of warring and military occupation ? The victory of the reviled talibans, and the restoration of the Islamic State of Afghanistan. Afghanistan, much like Viet-Nam…

Speaking of Viet-Nam now, record temperatures of 44°C were registered in early May, last month, as well as in Laos, Thailand, Burma, Bengla Desh… At mid-day cities like downtown Hanoi were empty, their inhabitants confined inside until the evening.

This is where we’re at. Now. Much faster than we might have thought.

Take it to zones of temperate climate, in Western Europe, the middle Northern part of it. The grass is all dried and yellowish-white, like in August, and the earth bursts with deep crevices, cracks, just like during the worst of droughts. Hay is becoming sparse. Water in wells is getting low and dirty. Every drop of water counts.

Whether by water or by fire, wheteher by explosives or by neglect and carelessness, the small spaceship we all live in is leaking, reeling and rolling. Whether you call it Eretz Israel or Falastine, temperatures of 40°C to 50°C will become the new norm. In that tiny piece of land, there were some 200 fires in early June, « like » in Canada.

« In other words, things are happening much faster than we feared. »

https://www.ynetnews.com/environment/article/h1xtd11r9ln

https://www.jpost.com/environment-and-climate-change/article-745343

« What was it you wanted ? …What’s happening in there ?... We can start it all over, get it back on the track… » (Shadow Kingdom). We better get our priorities straight, in the big picture as in details.