That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day!💞
Tag: destruction
October 23 – Elephant Evolution
My news story of the day comes from CBC News. It is a piece about elephants and being a lifetime elephant fan, I naturally had to check it out.
Unfortunately this story turned out to be sad and shocking.
The first shock came from how fast elephants are evolving in some areas. Elephants in Mozambique are rapidly losing the beautiful tusks that they have historically used to dig for water, strip barks from trees for food, and joust with other elephants. These tuskless animals are all females and they now make up two-thirds of live elephant births in that area of the world.
The second shock is that, the reason this elephant evolution became necessary, was to avoid extinction at the hands of illegal ivory hunters. These hunters were decimating the elephant population in Mozambique to finance both sides of a war effort there.
The third shock was a little side note. When authorities in Sri Lanka seized a massive amount of ivory tusks from these illegal elephant hunts, they ultimately destroyed them! I cannot believe they could not be turned over to some historical agency to be preserved or sold for a legitimate purpose. The funds from such sales could have provided financial help (medical assistance, food, housing, etc) for people in Mozambique. Surely that would have been far better than just destroying these tusks!
Altogether a sad news story today. It is hard to imagine that humans can be so greedy, bloodthirsty, and destructive. It makes one wonder what else the warmongers around the globe are destroying. Obviously, countless innocent human victims are just the beginning.
That is it for today! Take care, take care of each other and our vulnerable animal population, and have a great day. 💞
September 11th – Violence and Terrorism
Sharing a ‘Piece of My Mind’ on 9/11.
It is twenty years today since Al Qaeda, under the leadership of Osama bin Laden, attacked the Pentagon and destroyed the twin towers of the New York World Trade Centre. They were supposedly acting out of retaliation for the USA support of Israel and their involvement in in the Persian war.
…… It was one of those days, just one of those normal days. I was getting ready for work. Dan was not home, but for some inexplicable reason I had the television on when the first news reports come on. A plane had hit one of the twin towers of The World Trade Centre. Like most everyone else, I assumed it was a horrible, freak accident – until the second plane hit the other tower. On live television, the plane flew straight into the side of the tower and was swallowed whole. This was no accident. By the time I got to work, there was a small television on the service counter. We saw rescue workers swarming the area, we saw people fleeing for their lives, we saw people falling to their deaths, we watched the towers fall – taking countless victims down in clouds of smoke and dust and rubble. We watched the reports on the Pentagon attack and the plane that went down in a field, short of its mark. Even in Saskatchewan, Canada – standing around a small television, thousands of miles from the devastation, we watched in horror and grief. Thousands died that day. There was carnage and mass destruction. Air traffic and any sense of normalcy was brought to a halt for days.
Several al Qaeda members died in this suicide mission. Over a number of years, many of those involved were captured, killed or imprisoned. After evading capture for almost ten years, their leader Osama bin Laden was tracked down and killed.
This horrific act of violence and terrorism shook the United States, Canada, and virtually every country around the globe. Lives and families were destroyed. Chaos reigned. There was billions of dollars in property damages and business losses.
But, what did these terrorists gain. There was no appreciation gained for their cause, no justice, no closure. The only result was the retaliatory measures inevitably taken by the USA and its allies. The escalation of the war against terrorism. More violence, more bloodshed, more loss.
You would think people would learn. After a lesson like 9/11. You would really think people would learn. But have they?
Who are these people that attacked the United States Capitol on January 6th, who carry out attacks on Muslim temples, who attack LGBTQ nightclubs, who burst into malls and schools and theatres with guns blazing, who scream obscenities and throw gravel and dog feces at politicians? What do they want and how do they possibly think they are going to get it with hate and violence?
If bin Laden and Al Qaeda, did not accomplish anything with their 9/11 attacks, how can anyone still possibly believe that hate and violence is the path to victory?
That is all I have for today. My heart goes out to all who are to this day suffering the consequences of of 9/11.
Until tomorrow, take care & stay safe. 💞
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 