Sometimes Angels Wear White

Bad tidings seem to abound this Christmas. Turmoil and uncertainty are the norm rather than the exception. Here in the States we have just finished a rather painful election, giving us an inexperienced and, some might say, ill-conceived President-elect. Europe and Turkey have experienced a number of terrorist related acts. The Russian ambassador to Turkey was just assassinated. Where is there to go in search of the meaning of Christmas?

Strange as it may seem I found it in Aleppo. Aleppo is part of the conflict in Syria that has been raging for years, leaving many dead, injured and displaced. I ran across this OpEd piece with regard to the conflict.

Stop calling the Syrian conflict a Civil War, it's not

With so many people intent on their own agendas it was amazing to find some who were intent on something else. They started out as simple neighbors helping neighbors. They are the White Helmets of Syria.

60 Minutes did a piece on the White Helmets recently, which is what this short video references.

There are others, of course, who believe, or want others to believe, that the White Helmets are part of a terrorist organization and the rescues we see are staged. It is a war zone and there is much disinformation and propaganda. There is also extreme anger, which you saw from the one woman interviewed at the end of that 60 Minutes clip.

Since these interviews Aleppo has fallen to the regime of Syrian President Assad and it is uncertain the fates of many of the people involved in these scenes.

But what I saw were people trying desperately to save other people's lives at the risk of their own, unlike terrorist propaganda videos which glorify killing. So for those who genuinely tried to aid the civilians in this shattered city I send out a Christmas wish that this year will bring peace. For your self-sacrifice truly embodies the meaning of Christmas.

Wishing you all a peaceful Christmas!

Remembering

 

It was Joe Biden who so eloquently described the kind of person that John Glenn was.

RIP John Glenn.

Standing Rock

As the oil extraction from the Bakken has increased so to have the trains hauling oil. They are long and frequent, shunting aside trains containing other commodities, such as agricultural products. We are used to seeing them crawling through our neighborhoods backing up traffic at crossings. It was a situation in need of a solution.

Thus a pipeline was born.

The Dakota Access Pipeline

But there was a problem. A problem that was not addressed when the project was planned. The pipeline runs through the Dakotas. Maybe you remember the region from the movie Dances with Wolves. It is a land of rolling plains. A land of open spaces where native Americans lived a nomadic life hunting buffalo. While that life ended many years ago the land is still home to many whose ancestors roamed the plains. The pipeline was planned to run under the Missouri River, just upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux's drinking water supply.

And thus a protest was born.

From a few hundred people it grew to thousands, despite the onset of winter weather.

I can see both side's point of view. This pipeline is needed to address bottlenecks in transportation as well as safety concerns. But as one protester said, “we are stewards of the Earth”. He is right. We must be careful with our environment, because it is our home. We destroy it and we destroy our future.

As of this writing the protesters have prevailed. The US Army Corps. of Engineers has pulled the permit until a new route is found and environmental concerns are addressed.

Pipeline to be re-routed

I suspect that this will not be the end.