This Crazy World We Live In

I was recently in Portugal. I stayed in Lisbon, a gorgeous city with winding cobblestone streets, the Tagus River, and a rich history. I fell in love with Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, MAC/CCB Museu de Arte Contemporânea, having raw oysters and Aperol Spritz while taking in the views from Castero De S. Jorge, and devouring Carabineiros from Cervejaria Ramiro featured in Season 8, Episode 4 of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. It was a fabulous trip, including a day trip via train to Porto despite being unbearably packed with tourists. A wine tasting at Taylor's Port Winery in their beautiful garden was a fabulous reprieve after the jammed-packed Livraria Lello, considered one of the most beautiful bookstores. It is a gorgeous bookstore, but you must tolerate an obscene amount of tourists.

Lisbon, Portugal

And, I realized how crazy the world we live in is. I can't recall the exact date, but I was unwinding from the day, planning for the next, and had CNN on TV in my hotel room. I was staying at Moxy Lisbon City and had grabbed a glass of Super Bock, beer, from the hotel bar on my way to the room. I was just chilling, and then he appeared. Former President Donald Trump was talking to reporters about his hush-money case. It had been after Michael Cohen had testified against him. 

At first, I thought I must be drunk. He wasn't making sense. It sounded all gibberish. I realized as he continued talking, it didn't sound gibberish. It was gibberish. He was just saying whatever came to his mind without much thought. And he is the front-runner for November's presidential election. Don't tell me we don't live in a crazy world when a man facing 88 felony charges is a prominent presidential candidate.

It didn't sound so crazy before the trip. Even as I wrote I will not vote for Biden, but I will cast my vote for him. about a month ago, the world didn't sound crazy that I would be casting my vote for the next President of the United States for a candidate who isn't the best but simply to maintain some sort of civility, humanity, and decency as a nation. I didn't find it ridiculous that there was no best candidate, just the option of evil or decent.

After a day of roaming Lisbon, what felt normal and acceptable before seemed crazy. And then there was Rafah. With at least 45 people dead and more than 200 injured at a tent camp fire, the question of Israeli's continuous offensive attack in Gaza and their lack of regard for civilians became the world's outrage once again. Despite the International Court of Justice's, the United Nation's top court, ruling that Israel should "immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part," the attacks in Rafah continue to where we must consider it as a possible genocide attempt of Palestinians in Gaza. War isn't black-and-white as I expressed in Can there be such a thing as humanity in war?.

Israel was provoked. There is no doubt about that. Hamas is just as culpable in the deaths of Palestinians, but it has become more than just a force of reaction from Israel. Words such as famine and genocide are being used to describe what is happening to the Palestinians in Gaza. Yet, the folks on Instagram want to keep "all eyes on Rafah". Isn't that crazy? What does keeping our eyes on Rafah accomplish?  

I'm pretty confident Israel knows that all eyes are on Rafah. Famine and genocide may not be the Israeli government's intentions, but they are happening. I don't care for words. There should be actions from the International Communities beyond "all eyes" campaign generated by an AI. There should be calls for zero trade with Israel as long as it continues to violate the ICJ's ruling to "halt its military offensive" in Rafah. No nation with humanity should call Israel an ally at this point. This is neither about abandoning Jewish people nor their rights to Israel. The Jewish people of this world have the right to Israel. In fact, they have the right to live in peace without prejudice like any of us. I'm not denying them their rights. I'm advocating that Palestinians in Gaza who are not combatants and thus civilians should be protected from military actions as much as possible. This is about ceasing the destruction of Palestinians in Gaza. At least temporarily cease, so that aid can reach those in despair and civilians can be evacuated from the region. 

It seems obtuse to talk about the weather after Rafah, but the extreme weather has reached craziness. Los Angeles feels like late winter rather than summer... I woke up this morning and didn't want to get out of bed because it felt cold outside of the duvet. We've passed Memorial Day weekend, and it is still too chill to enjoy ice cream in Los Angeles. Seriously, at least 23 people were killed over the Memorial Day weekend due to extreme weather. 

Yet, some of us don't believe that Climate Change is causing extreme weather such as deadly heatwaves and storms. And that Climate Change is mainly caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal. Isn't it crazy that we are experiencing the impact of Climate Change with deadly weather yet some of us refuse to accept that we have to change our lives to protect the future of the earth? 

I think of that future, and I shrug. You see, I don't and won't have any children. While extreme weather has become more frequent and deadly in recent years, I can honestly say that I don't believe it will greatly impact the quality of life in my lifetime. You are obtuse if you haven't made lifestyle changes beyond recycling, solar power, and electric vehicles when you have children and grandchildren. Imagine them living with extreme weather that isn't an occurrence but is constant of deadly heat waves and storms. Crazy, right? 

No matter how crazy the world is, life continues for most of us as though it isn't crazy. I'm back from Portugal and slowly returning to my life in Los Angeles. I see those "All Eyes on Rafah" on IG Stories and wonder how long we plan to watch. I wonder what will happen to my vote in the November presidential election if Israel continues its offensive attack in Gaza and President Biden does not impose economic sanctions on Israel while former President Trump promises to impose sanctions on Israel. Will I compromise all for the Palestinians in Gaza? I hope it doesn't come to that, but we live in this crazy world.



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