The demise of Sunday Cartoon Blogging was greeted without crying by the Wrongologist faithful, but maybe we need a laugh today. Herewith is the best cartoon of the week:
Jordan blew it:
And here is the best photo of art this week: West Bank wall – via Street Art by Banksy:
(This was executed in 2005 by Banksy on the West Bank barrier wall in Abu Dis.)
There’s only a small chance that we’ll get totally soothed after a most tumultuous week. John Dick, CEO of CivicScience reports that: (emphasis and brackets by Wrongo)
“People are glued to the Israel-Hamas war. In our 3 Things to Know this week, we found that 81% of US adults are paying close attention to the crisis in Israel – although [for] younger people, much less so. This high level of attention carries across age and political affiliations, but older adults and Republicans are much more likely to follow it very closely.”
Having both a war in Congress and the war in Gaza so dominate the news makes it hard for people to get sufficient distance to see these events in any real context. But, on this rainy Sunday in Connecticut, let’s give Soothing the old college try.
We had the local arborist come by to get a quote for tree work on the Fields of Wrong. When the cold weather comes, shaping and pruning trees and felling them is easier. We need all three. We’re delaying our fall clean-up for a few more weeks, since we still have many trees with green leaves. It looks like the clean-up will begin during the first week of November, or maybe when Congress is likely to select a new Speaker.
So here at the start of another week that will certainly be filled with momentous news, let’s try deep breathing and some robust coffee to start us off for the week. Let’s brew up a mug of Opus Dark Roast ($19.99/12oz.) from San Jose CA’s Chromatic Coffee. It is said to have notes of dark chocolate and burnt sugar. Yummy!
Now grab a seat by a south-facing window and watch and listen to two different pieces, both of which gesture towards finding peace among combatants. First, from JS Bach’s “B minor Mass, here is “Dona Nobis Pacem” (Latin for “Grant us peace”). It is performed by the English Baroque Soloists & Monteverdi Choir and conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner:
Now for a change of pace, listen to Alicia Keys perform her 2014 song “We Are Here”. It describes Keys’ frustration with both national and international issues, including the conflict at the time between Israel and Gaza. Following the song’s release, Keys launched a movement, called the “We Are Here Movement” calling for a more equal and just world:
Sample lyric:
Let’s talk about Gaza
Let’s talk about, let’s talk about Israel
Cause right now it is real
Let’s talk about, let’s talk Nigeria
And the mass hysteria, yeah
Our souls are brought together
So that we can love each other, brother
