Sunday morning comments.
February 16, 2025
This short email opens the Comment section.
When the light in the image below left the Pelican Nebula 1,800 years ago, Hadrian’s Wall had just been completed. Within 300 years, a wall that spanned England from coast to coast had been abandoned and served as a makeshift quarry for early cathedrals, villages, and farmhouses. In the ensuing 1,500 years, the wall crumbled and was buried, so today, only 10% of Hadrian’s wall is visible.
Hadrian’s Wall transitioned from one of Rome’s largest defensive fortifications to a tourist attraction in the time it took for the photons captured in the image below to reach Earth from the Pelican Nebula. The photons traveled for 1,800 years at 671 million miles per hour.
Here's my daily dose of perspective. A month ago when the dogs died unexpectedly. It's been tough to recover from that. The other dog is old and failing. Robins are outside every morning. They're doing their normal spring routine. My flowers are starting to Bud and some of them are blooming. My best friend who I've known since I was 9 has been taking care of her sister for almost a year and her sister is nearing death. My brother who I used to care about and respect has become a source of intense disgust as he is in with the maga crowd. I have a roof over my head and a refrigerator that has food in it. I regularly provide some meals for some people that I encounter. They're simple meals and they're not going to save anything but they're better than doing nothing. I cringe when I read the news but I still read it. I'm going to the resistance event on Monday and I heard it's national all over the country at capitals and municipalities so I hope you go too.
Watching the Livestreaming of the Munich Security Conference yesterday was interesting. If just intelligence alone where what could win the war Ukraine's president Zelenskyy has it in spades. Apparently JD Vance and Pete Hegseth said really horrible things about Ukraine and Europe in terms of them trying to shut down the Nazi parties that are most like his and Trump's party, and that made European countries mad. Even if they are all embracing the same anti-Muslim politics on their right wing as the US, does not mean that the countries are ready to cave to their far right parties. Of course they are making inroads too.
Unfortunately for the world more liberal governments in Europe during Covid and Putin's war, led to these governments being overthrown for something different. People are of the opinion that if liberal did not make my economic situation better, and for many it is just fine. They have a home, health insurance, can afford to go to the local football games, drink in a pub, go on a vacation with the family and get paid vacations but they still think furrigners are a problem because some bot on the internet has been hetting them up to believe that they cannot be integrated into society. There are a few who had illiberal governments and have voted them out for something they hope is better. Changing bad systems takes a lot of political capital that most countries do not have, and time that most leaderships don't get.
What Austria is doing is just Nazi-like with their far right, and right now not able to make a coalition. What will happen. If the people were smart they would come to their senses and have a recall election. The far right won 28.9% of the votes, while the center right won 26.3% Neither has enough to rule on its own, but they are not able to form a coalition together because the Center Right is balking and the crazy extremism of the far right party and their leader Klikl. My daughter has a good friend in Austria and she has been out there demonstrating against this Nazi party as part of the government. Austria is too aligned with its former monarchy partner Hungary. So, you can have beautiful cities, and lovely pastries, but fascist governments. Let us hope it ruins the tourism in Austria.
Germany has an election in a week, and I am hoping that the Far right party comes in behind the Center right party who will then only make a coalition with other democratic parties. My family and friends will certainly will be doing our part to stave off the far right.