Morning comes quietly in the valley with flickers of light on the horizon alerting the animals that their feed is coming. Or they can whinny to wake up their owner.
I can also go to the Internet and see what has been going on overnight in the world. One fascinating website maps out the latest "terrorist acts and suspicious events". Try http://www.globalincidentmap.com.
It’s updated every 300 seconds. So if something awful happens thousands of miles away I can know about it. You can forget about needing a cup of coffee to wake you up!
By just clicking on a spot on the map you are connected to an aerial photo of the land and a newspaper article on the subject.
On a recent day, the FBI was investigating an explosion in Colorado; a bomb squad in Nebraska was investigating a pipe bomb; an army explosive device was found in a car in Georgia... etc.
Some of these are probably not terrorist related. The collapse of the Highway 35 bridge in Minnesota was included on the map and that’s not presently being considered in this category.
The active area that morning was Pakistan and India. “Bomb explodes at a bus station in northwest Pakistan” and “Suspected Islamic militants decapitated an Afghan man after accusing him of spying for the United States…” etc.
What about Europe? “French authorities stepped up security on trains in eastern France…” and England, “theft of a computer database containing thousands of top-secret mobile phone records from terrorism and organized crime investigations.” Northern Ireland… police were bombed after they discovered “a sizeable stash of apparently home-made explosives".
Back in the 1960’s I heard the Kingston Trio give their rendition of a song that has fascinated and/or haunted me ever since. Through the years since I would chuckle as I remembered some of the words as still being appropriate. And the line in captals was a favorite of mine when I was especially crabby!
Has anything changed much? Sing along: (Merry Minuet written by Sheldon Harnick.)
I can also go to the Internet and see what has been going on overnight in the world. One fascinating website maps out the latest "terrorist acts and suspicious events". Try http://www.globalincidentmap.com.
It’s updated every 300 seconds. So if something awful happens thousands of miles away I can know about it. You can forget about needing a cup of coffee to wake you up!
By just clicking on a spot on the map you are connected to an aerial photo of the land and a newspaper article on the subject.
On a recent day, the FBI was investigating an explosion in Colorado; a bomb squad in Nebraska was investigating a pipe bomb; an army explosive device was found in a car in Georgia... etc.
Some of these are probably not terrorist related. The collapse of the Highway 35 bridge in Minnesota was included on the map and that’s not presently being considered in this category.
The active area that morning was Pakistan and India. “Bomb explodes at a bus station in northwest Pakistan” and “Suspected Islamic militants decapitated an Afghan man after accusing him of spying for the United States…” etc.
What about Europe? “French authorities stepped up security on trains in eastern France…” and England, “theft of a computer database containing thousands of top-secret mobile phone records from terrorism and organized crime investigations.” Northern Ireland… police were bombed after they discovered “a sizeable stash of apparently home-made explosives".
Back in the 1960’s I heard the Kingston Trio give their rendition of a song that has fascinated and/or haunted me ever since. Through the years since I would chuckle as I remembered some of the words as still being appropriate. And the line in captals was a favorite of mine when I was especially crabby!
Has anything changed much? Sing along: (Merry Minuet written by Sheldon Harnick.)
They're rioting in Africa
They're starving in Spain
There's hurricanes in Florida
And Texas needs rain
The whole world is festering
The whole world is festering
with unhappy souls
The French hate the Germans,
the Germans hate the Poles
Italians hate Yugoslavs,
South Africans hate the Dutch
AND I DON’T LIKE ANYBODY VERY MUCH.
They're rioting in Africa
AND I DON’T LIKE ANYBODY VERY MUCH.
They're rioting in Africa
There's strife in Iran
What nature doesn't do to us
Will be done by our fellow Man
If you remember, the song ends with everyone getting blown up. That part of the song I don’t sing… even when I’m crabby.
I’m hoping we can write a nicer ending.
.
