Dots

Whether it's a curse or a blessing, I can't ignore connecting dots. Especially if, during a  short period of time these dots, seemingly insignificant, merge to form what to me is a significant bit of info. Here's how it worked this morning.

1.  As we speak less of the tragedy that continues in Iraq and of the "plans" to withdraw, a suicide bomber kills 48 people and injures some 100 others in a restaurant near Kirkut.

2.  Secretary Gates is moving forward with plans to deploy 20,000 more troops to Afghanistan as we gin up our next war.  More brigades will follow shortly.  This initial deployment will come probably in January.  They're from Fort Drum where troops are trained in below freezing conditions.

3.  Derek Black, a self-identifying racist who won a committeeman seat in the Palm Beach County Florida Republican Party, was denied  access by the Party because he failed to sign their loyalty oath—that candidates avoid activities that are "likely to injure the name of the Republican party."  

4. An inch of snow brought holiday cheer to New Orleans yesterday.  The Tiber River that runs through Rome has flooded everything including the first floors of some hotels.  Today's forecast is for more rain.  Venice continues its vain battle against the rising tides of the Adriatic.

5. A study has found pedestrians 65 and older are more prone to be killed crossing the street than younger people.

The dots connected:  All these items indicate how so many of us passively glide along our paths in 21st century life, doing stuff as though we are still in the 20th century.  

Numbers 1 & 2 remind us that we still think this challenge by various insurgencies (according to experts in the area, Afghanistan has anywhere from 25 to 100 independent, autonomous insurgent groups) should be met with a full frontal military response.  But anyone who knows anything about these challenges contends they are actually intelligence and police matters.  This is a case of medieval minds using 21st century means to taunt a 20th century war mentality.  

Numbers 3 & 4 challenge our contemporary smugness.  We're in denial about climate change, and we think that, because we elected an African-American to the presidency we've solved the racism embedded in our society.  The irony of the Party's clause about injuring its name likewise fits the hubris of an empire stuck in its 20th century glory.

And poor number 5 connects with how grant proposals can always scheme to research and discover the obvious.  All in all these dots demonstrate how much we remain entombed in our linear, 20th century thinking.