Here, you will find snippets about the news of the day. Each segment is short and meant to be thought-provoking. The three main subjects of the Murk include: Animals, War and Politics. It's the intersection of these three that I find fascinating. A children's book that I read with my daughter recently called PAX really brought these issues home for me. When we plant landmines, we're blowing up more than the humans on the other side. When human error leads to nuclear disaster, as in Chernobyl, the poison goes beyond humankind. We now know, for instance, that the wolves of Chernobyl, who prey on the elk, have varying levels of radiation poisoning to this day. The effect of human-caused war, fires and bombs is rarely talked about in the context of animals, but it should be, as they are innocent. The core idea behind the title, the Murk, is that many of the issues we face have become murky because of fake news, disinformation, AI fakes, etc. At the Murk, the reader will hopefully find some clarity and a way of looking at the issues that is not a blend of truth and fabrication, that is not a manipulation. The Murk, in essence, is about saying the truth and the truth only. Late 2024: The pictures of 10-year old Tala Abu Ajwa, killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli bomb this month, haunt all of us who have seen them. She was pronounced dead from shrapnel to the neck, still in her pink rollerskates. Is this what it looks like when “Israel defends itself?” Murder is still murder even if the government does it. It’s campaign season, and so, Kamala Harris has said she will help the middle class, and Donald Trump has said he will help the upper class and corporations. Notice how no one talks about helping the underclass—when they are the ones who need it most! The politics of self-interest has become a sickness in American culture. We could be talking about how to stop the wars that are raging or the need to stop poisoning the earth. Instead, politicians have to help you personally. When there’s a “homegrown” incident, and people get hurt, you never hear anyone saying: ‘Well, we need to send those people back to Europe.’ But somehow, when a minority or immigrant population is responsible, an entire race is implicated. There’s a big gap in how we discuss cancer, which is probably related to what types of studies industry groups sponsor. We often hear: genetics, diet and exercise are risk factors for cancer. Well, aren’t these risk factors for nearly every disease? We need to start talking about the real culprit, which is plastics production—PFAS chemicals and phthalates. EPA is going to take too long to regulate PFAS; that’s clear to see. But we have to try. Write and call your congressperson, EPA, state DEC or DEP and local water authority. Ask if they test for PFAS chemicals in the water. Researchers have even found PFAS chemicals in the livers of platypuses in Australia, to give you an idea of how widespread this problem is. We have alternatives that could be substituted for so many PFAS chemical uses. We don’t need firefighting foam--we have lots of ways to put out fires including water! We don’t need PFAS non-stick pans--we have ceramic alternatives, steel, cast iron. And, a quick look at the cosmetics and personal care industry shows many frivolous (or at least unnecessary) uses of PFAS chemicals. We need legislation now to remove these products from manufacturing processes and mandate alternatives. Or, hey, there’s nothing wrong with the government saying, "You can’t manufacture that product anymore" because of what science is telling us. When that happens, suddenly alternatives appear. Since we're on the verge of an election, I'm going to allow myself a longer format piece to discuss: The New Republican Party The Republican Party has morphed over the last 25 years. It used to be the Party of fiscal conservatism, less government and basically letting corporations do whatever they wanted. Now they want to tell women what to do with their bodies and tell us which books to read. Doesn’t sound like less government anymore. Why do men even get a vote on abortion anyway? Why not let women exclusively vote on abortion? The new Republican Party says more government when it comes to legislating morality, but let’s still go with less government when it comes to regulating industry. Trump passed a massive tax cut for the wealthy and a hidden tax increase for the rest of us. So, out of pure self-interest, most of the corporate class will likely vote for him. Nevermind that his transactional approach ---- to basically everything -- doesn’t work well for so many government functions. For instance, a transactional approach to foreign policy could kill the very alliances that are keeping the peace in Europe. But in this close election, Trump knows he can’t sweep to power on just the shoulders of the corporate class, so he keeps trying to appeal to uneducated voters. He laments 2% inflation, as if he even shops for his own groceries. He sides with climate change deniers, trying to stoke anger among groups who have been displaced by technology change or deindustrialization. Americans desperately want it both ways. They want cheap products from China, but they want those jobs back, but they’re not really willing to work those jobs (the next generation has no interest in manufacturing and we have an aging population). Immigrants would do these jobs, but Republicans want immigrants out. So, where does that leave us? Start a trade war with China by increasing tariffs? Trump can’t be serious about reducing inflation if in the same breath he says that we need higher tariffs on China. The inclination towards fiscal conservatism, that Republicans used to have, was admirable. But now, both parties ring up the deficit. If our social safety net programs involved a tiered system, it would be more fair. By saying, if you make under $25,000 per year, you qualify for a whole host of free programs, but if you make $26,000—you qualify for nothing, we hurt the working poor. So Democrats don’t have it right either. At the deepest level, there is a culture war going on. White rural America, in particular, feels like their customs, traditions, language and culture are being usurped by immigrants. Meanwhile, educated liberals, mainly on the coasts, either don’t mind the cultural influence or perhaps welcome the culture change. They find diversity interesting and probably travel widely because of this ideal. But what’s really scary about JD Vance and Trump is that they go with the wind, they go with the money. Vance seemed to understand the plight of the immigrant, but now he thinks they’re a scourge. Trump’s experience of diversity and immigrants is basically as the hotel workers who clean the bathrooms or groom his golf courses. His entire background has been white elite, and so, he espouses all kinds of myths about immigrants. Will the uneducated and corporate classes out-vote the educated liberals? Who knows. They did it once before. According to the Times of Israel: According to data released by Israel National Council for the Child, 38 children were killed in Israel on October 7 during the Hamas-led terrorist onslaught. Unicef reports, Sept. 24, 2024, Beirut/Geneva:On Monday alone, at least 35 children were reportedly killed in Lebanon. This is more than the number of children killed in Lebanon in the past 11 months (previously 22). Why do we use terms like "food insecurity." The Palestinians are starving in the Gaza Strip, eating grass and twigs to survive. Say the truth. While an Iron Dome defends the Israelis with pinpoint accuracy, indiscriminate bombing in civilian centers is the method of war chosen by Netanyahu against the Palestinians-- a peasant population with no air defenses and no fighter planes. Anonymous Israeli pilots drop U.S.-made bombs from the clouds because Israel is safer when women and children are killed. The incredible images of children disfigured and burned in Lebanon and Gaza by Israel’s unfocused war still have not shaken Americans out of their slumber. Infants now wrapped in gauze who scream when a nurse comes to change their bandages. Babies sucking on pacifiers who were lit on fire. Teenagers now deformed. And yet, America continues to profess unwavering support for Israel. Tell Netanyahu that his war tactics carry no U.S. support—that we will not defend them, and certainly, we will not arm Israel. Proportionality is a legal tenet that Netanyahu disregards. Netanyahu is a war criminal. Say the truth. A longer post in the run-up to elections: It used to be that racism, sexism and xenophobia were disqualifying. For me, it’s disqualifying for a candidate to espouse these beliefs in code; for others, it’s disqualifying when overt. Here, with Trump, we have both coded and overt racism, sexism and xenophobia. It really says something about our society that nearly half of Americans now go along with these hateful messages. The immigrants I’ve known in my life have been hard-working, family oriented, good people. Meanwhile, we have quite a bit of “homegrown” white males being charged with school shootings, for instance. When Trump supporters say they can separate Trump’s beliefs from his policies -- that they’re voting for him because of his policies -- that is both remarkable and a kind of misdirection. Separating a candidate’s BELIEFS from their policies? Beliefs create policy. Beliefs are at the core of why I vote. Trump supporters know that the school they send their kids to, for instance, would never support racism, sexism or xenophobia so they have to hide their beliefs to an extent. They hide behind such claims as ‘the Democrats are Socialists’ (because Democrats want to help the poor) or ‘the Democrats ring up the deficit’ (Trump rang up the deficit big time). Don’t legitimize racism, sexism and xenophobia with a vote for Trump. It's interesting that Trump gained so much traction on the immigration issue. When he was president, he separated over 5,000 children and parents leading to lawsuits and reunification searches that lasted years. Here's an excerpt from USA Today: "Biden has kept in place a Trump-era public health order and expelled thousands of immigrant adults and families, but he declined to expel immigrant children without a parent after a federal appeals court in January cleared the way for him to do so. He also moved to speed up the reunification of hundreds of separated immigrant families." As Israel continues to block food aid bound for the Palestinians, the stories coming out of the Gaza Strip tear at one's soul. It was the eldest daughter's task to wait in the food lines for watered down lentil soup and bring it back to the family. She never returned, crushed to death by the swelling hungry mass. The father remarked, "I will never forgive myself." Early 2025: The sad truth is that humans want to be the only apex predator. Consider the massive decline in grizzly bears; gray wolves; pumas/great cats. Government removal. Hunting. Habitat loss. Poisoning. Trapping. All of this has taken its toll on carnivore populations. Given factory farming as the norm now, how valid is the idea that we must protect livestock from carnivores? Do we need more condos built over habitat? Isn’t it our own fear, when walking in the woods, that is killing carnivores? Our own fear of not being top predator--not being able to defend one’s self given the soft sheltered life we've created? It's not just a U.S. problem; it’s a world-wide problem. In Africa, hunters take the tusks from elephants to sell the ivory; for what, chess sets? Bathroom fixtures? Rhinos, turtles, snakes, seahorses killed for frivolity, because Chinese culture says it will improve one's sex life. Our old ways of thinking are not serving us well. It's time to wake up. The planet is waiting. Nothing is inevitable. It's high time that we open the cages, the many forms of animal jails that we've created and justified with lofty ideals like science and education. Open the cages. I asked my neighbor the other day, why she decided to take her kids to Panama for their last vacation. She said she wanted them to see the coral reefs before they are all bleached or gone. I really could relate to her statement. And yet, it was so sad. Is that where we are on the environment and ecology? Come and experience now because the next generation won't be able to.