The world's tallest population -- the Dutch -- seem to be getting shorter and scientists don't know why. These days it's tempting to connect every biological or meteorological abnormality to global climate change, but I'd resist doing that.
Otherwise we'd risk missing when positive things happen. Like the rains that visited the parched Northwest this weekend, which was welcome news.
And the air quality in the Bay Area is terrific; the wildfires remain distant and the plumes of smoke are nowhere to be seen. The temperature is in the 70s. For one day we can be excused for not pondering the future of the planet.
But the only practical approach to the inevitability of climate change is to take what small steps we can individually, while figuring out how to devote a major collective effort toward mitigation and prevention.
There are over three trillion trees in the world, big and small, and not quite eight billion people, shrinking or not. We need to protect and grow more trees and we need to protect and grow more people.
Understanding the way trees communicate and sustain themselves may help us do a better job with the latter.
But trees are only one element. What about fish, flowers, clouds, water, soil, air, all of the flora and fauna surrounding us?
If I could set the curriculum for schools, ecology would be the main subject starting in kindergarten. I could even develop a reading list, since the principles of ecology are easy to grasp, even for a young child.
Human rights would be another key subject. How they are respected and how they are abused and what can be done to enhance the former and eliminate the latter.
If this all sounds hopelessly idealistic, which it may be, it also is precisely the kind of thinking we need to forge a future on this planet.
If survival is a worthy goal, let's begin acting like it. Humans evolved from small creatures; maybe we are seeing the beginning of a reversal of our evolution now. Maybe that's what's happening in Holland.
Instead of getting bigger, maybe we'll all start getting smaller. as we were in the distant past. Whether that is true or not, learning how to think smaller just might make a difference.
THE HEADLINES:
* The world’s tallest populace is shrinking, and scientists want to know why (WP)
* U.S. closes part of Texas border, begins flying Haitians home (AP)
* Child-care workers are quitting rapidly, a red flag for the economy -- Child-care employment is still down more than 126,000 positions as workers leave for higher-paying positions as bank tellers, administrative assistants and retail clerks. Parents are struggling to return to work as daycare and after school programs dwindle. (WP)
* The Scientist and the A.I.-Assisted, Remote-Control Killing Machine -- Israeli agents had wanted to kill Iran’s top nuclear scientist for years. Then they came up with a way to do it with no operatives present. (NYT)
* The Reason You and Your Neighbor Make Different Covid-19 Risk Decisions (WSJ)
* Facebook says WSJ allegations are 'mischaracterizations,' confer 'false motives' (Reuters)
* Yellen faces test as climate advocates push for aggressive financial action (WP)
* VIDEO: Biden Urges World Leaders to Accelerate Action on Climate Crisis (NYT)
* Growing California wildfire spares group of giant sequoias (Reuters)
* First all-amateur space crew splashes down in the Atlantic off Florida (WP)
* First Tied to ISIS, Then to U.S.: Family in Drone Strike Is Tarnished Twice (NYT)
* Greek PM says climate crisis is with us and cost of ignoring it 'unimaginable' (Reuters)
* How an intelligence officer’s disappearance in Somalia has ripped the government apart this week (WP)
* In Orange County, the Recall’s Defeat Echoes Years of G.O.P. Erosion (NYT)
* Why I violated Texas’s extreme abortion ban (WP)
* Self-Esteem Built Up At Theater Camp To Get Shy Student Through First 6 Minutes Of School Year (The Onion)
***
Landslide"
by Stevie Nicks
I climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills
'Til the landslide brought me down
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too
Oh! I'm getting older too
Oh-oh, climb a mountain and you turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Well, the landslide bring it down
And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Well, the landslide bring it down
Oh-ohh, the landslide bring it down
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