Experience denied

Waking up to hazy sunshine and clouds driven by the wind. In the news I was struck by a report about the situation in Gaza where emergency aid is slowly moving into the territory. The UN Aid coordinator admits that his remarks a few days ago about 14,000 infants in Gaza being in danger of dying of famine applied in the long term if aid supplies weren't rapidly increased. Whatever he actually said was reported as 'soon' as opposed maybe to 'sooner or later'. Was that an error of anxious communication on his part or indignant reporting on the part of the media? 

Only a third of the aid lorries allowed in a situation where thousands needed to deliver aid urgently. Some are being looted by gunmen already. UN emergency aid response experts say the only way to address this issue is for supplies to overwhelm demand, minimising the $400k value of each truckload that makes them of interest to criminals and worth fighting over. The Israeli government has its own idea, commissioning private companies to replace UN aid logistics experts. Will experience and logic prevail over the logic of fanatics in government? We'll see.

Some Gazans will die of starvation this week in any case, while others will be killed in the Israeli army's continued assault on Hamas fighters. Public indignation against Netanyahu's policy in Israel is mounting by the day. Britain, France and Canada's condemnations have been met with an angry aggressive insulting reaction from Netanyahu against countries Israel considers allies. The emotion with which he lashes might lead you to think he was in a bunker under direct physical assault, rather than in behind a safe government cordon somewhere in Israel. It's not so easy however for him to brush off severe criticism from Jews in the diaspora as well as in Israel. With diplomatic talks happening behind the scenes it's impossible to envisage how close a release of hostages may be. All the world can do is watch and pray.

After breakfast I went to the King's Road pharmacy to collect my quarterly prescription, and was sad to learn that Lindsey our local community pharmacist is moving on to a job in Abertillery, as the company employing her wants to keep her freelance and isn't going to give her a permanent contract. This is such a loss to our locality. I wonder who will replace her at the end of this month, and for how long? 

My afternoon walk in Llandaff Fields after lunch and a snooze took me to see if work on enclosing the Padel court was finished. The roof yes, but not the walls. I was physically tired again today and curtailed my walk, and after supper went to Thompson's Park to complete my daily quota. 

Then I watched a couple of episodes of 'Memento Mori'. Its story is very dark and horribly violent. The twists and turns in the story have been predictable, and offer little by way of insight apart from that of rivalry and internal politics within the police, albeit this is a minor them cropping up in movies from different European countries. It suggests to me that it's been written more with the intent of shocking consumers than engaging in deep reflection on the perversions of a perpetrator who is also a victim, and the losses of a successful protagonist. I wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't for the opportunity it gives of following dialogue in Spanish.