Bits and Pieces

Again, Gates Divorce: I am disappointed in the turn of news cycles concerning the Gates divorce. This is a very private matter, not a public one. Curious I know. Even titillating, but still private. Wealthy people, famous people, idols even, are attractive news machines. Still, they are human beings living life and struggling on with human problems like our own. Leave them be to deal with this pain on their own. They deserve that just as you deserve the same.

Meanwhile, poor or rich, people live their sexual lives, their intellectual lives, just like you and I. An affair; really? That changes our valuation of Bill Gates? Or anyone else? He is not a leader in values; he is a leader in philanthropy, public health, public education and a host of other issues, funding and researching those problems for innovative solutions. He has not been elected to serve us. He chooses instead to serve the commonweal. What he does in bed is none of my concern. Or with whom.

Face Masks: Oh for God’s sake! No one knows who has been vaccinated for COVID-19 and who has not. Carrying a ‘passport’ for vaccination status is time-consuming to arrange, and distasteful to a society accustomed to privacy and freedom. The simple solution: require masks until COVID deaths are zero for 3 months. The only harm done is a decline in common colds, flu and a host of other spreadable sickness. The greatest good is defeating COVID-19. Grow up America. Wear masks as a badge of courage to do the right thing.

Israeli/Palestinian Strife: America’s involvement in both Middle East geopolitics, and support for Israel’s safety and independence, are clashing. Of course, they have clashed continuously since 1949 when Israel’s statehood was forged from piecemeal cloth. Discerning truth and fact from this cauldron of distrust, is a duty of the press, of the observer, and of the principles themselves. The discussions surrounding discernment, however, invariably become suspect to anti-Semitism. That is too bad, because strong, logical analysis is needed whether it favors or not Israel’s position. Being against an Israeli position ought not be thought as anti-Semitic. The bits and pieces of this examination are important factors to weigh if the right answers are outcomes. Why focus on tactics and strategies when the attention should be on defining desired outcomes? We might make more progress if we focus on that more and less on judging anti-Semitism.

May 21, 2021