An Odd, Disjointed Feeling

Last night Honey and I watched a very touching documentary called Paper Clips. A pair of middle school teachers and the principal in Whitwell, Tennessee, searching for a project for the eigth graders, settled upon studying the Holocaust. What stemmed from this project was a huge undertaking in which people from all over the country and the world sent paperclips to them to represent the 11 million people killed. One of the most moving portions of the film was watching the white, Christian and sheltered students listen to the survivors stories and try to wrap their minds around the experiences the survivors were sharing. Both Honey and I cried at many points during the movie. Both of us had our admitted Southerner-as-cross-burning-Klansman prejudices blown right out of the water.

The following morning driving to work I heard on the news that despite agreeing to let up on their air strikes in the immediate aftermath of 60 civilian casualties from a destroyed apartment building, Israel would be moving forward with their campaign against Hezbollah. The idea of a cease-fire, bandied about by other world leaders, seems quite far from their minds. Like many others, I 'm wondering just how it is that a country founded in such self-determination and refusal to be oppressed, could end up doling out such a bitter dose. Not an unusual path to beat--the US did it, too, but somehow I find it more disturbing. Perhaps it's some weird victim stereotype--I don't want Israel to be the brutalizer but remain the innocent victim.

In completely unrelated news about my cat, I have started giving her Flexicose. This is liquid glucosamine with a bunch of other stuff that is supposed to relieve arthritis by lubricating the cartilage, or whatever the hell it is, that wears away and makes MK walk all stiffly. It's supposed to be wonder tonic. I'll report back on her progress.