That fuse for the   powder keg in the Middle East   awaits a spark. Looks like Israel is paralyzed about what to do about those hostages kept in the Gaza Strip, while   still bombing targets of necessity , like a mosque in the West Bank, used by militants and two airports in Syria.   Investigatory skirmishes have occurred in the Strip, while fire is still being traded with the Hezbollah to the north.   700,000 moved to the south in the Strip. It is reported that more than 100,000 Israelis were relocated away from the border with Lebanon.  Iran keeps sending dire warnings of escalation.   A 20-truck aid convoy did make it into the Gaza Strip from Egypt yesterday, with 12 more today.  But no exit yet for those desiring to leave.  This two-day total equaled about 6% of the usual daily import to the Strip before this war.  The call is for 100 trucks/day, and release of foreigners. The death toll stands at 1400 in Israel and 4600 in the Gaza Strip. Similarly, our House of Representatives al

The first law of ecology is that title above, at least as written in Barry Commoner's 1971  The Closing Circle:  Nature, Man and Technology .   A  further searc h indicated that the adage is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, who died in 1519.  But there is very little to support this contention. From German  philosopher Gotthold Ephraim Lessing in 1769: In nature everything is connected, everything is interwoven, everything changes with everything, everything merges from one into another . Close, but what about U.S. jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who wrote: If the world is a subject for rational thought it is all of one piece; the same laws are found everywhere, and   everything is connected with everything else;   and if this is so, there is nothing mean, and nothing in which may not be seen the universal law. And there is an environmental inspiration from U.S. naturalist John Muir in 1869: When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the

While on his way to Israel, a huge explosion occurred in the Gaza Strip Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital parking lot.    Early reports indicated a thousand people were sheltered in this 80-bed hotel, and hundreds perished.      Initial media reports blamed an Israeli air strike.  The Arab world erupted, with protests against the American embassies.  Then, more recent news seem to indicate that the cause was an errant terrorist rocket.  This whole war has been stoked by mis-information and fake news, so it will be some before any conclusive evidence will become universally accepted. In the meantime, after arriving in Israel, Biden met with a lot of leaders and gave two speeches. On arrival. After a few meetings . Emotionally empathic. Said Israel was not responsible for hospital bombing. Repeated, you are not alone Promised considerable humanitarian and military aid. This was the first visit to Israel by an American president during a time of war. During all this consternation, a tiny country c