Postscript A New Season

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 "Weaklings must lie."  "Age does not matter if the matter doesn't age."  Jean Paul. "If you want  to fool the world, tell the truth." "Preventive war is like committing suicide out of fear for death."  "People never lie as much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt."  "God has  a special providence for fools, drunkards and the United States of America." "Hounds will follow those who feed them." Bismarck.  "Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error."  Tullius Cicero.                                                 Sweet Mary, for a long time our guarding 'watch cat' , sitting in front of our house, until a cheeky cat decided to take over her post, suffers from bad teeth and gum. She has become more nervous, not very helpful when I try to get her inside my transport box, so far unsuccessful. The other big cat with health problems, I managed to trick inside and take to the vet. He discovered that her swollen cheek was actually caused by parasites (mites) inside her ears. Itching ears in addition often lead to external wounds caused by ferals scratching themselves. Now I have to hide her antibiotics in pieces of sausage. But the recent experience to be left in a box for hours, and taken to undergo unpleasant treatments, was a shock for the lovely girl. So she didn't turn up for breakfast the next day, after that she had second thoughts and decided that I am not such a bad person after all. I was so happy to see the little darling again, no hard feelings. Tiger, our senior tomcat, is just crazy about sausage. The other day he bit my finger, while I was feeding him. I guess he needs glasses!!! The same applies to those cats who like to sit or walk in the middle of the streets. Perhaps one should put up a sign asking drivers to be aware of playing children and cats. Wondering why potatoes aren't always available? Are folks storing them, exspecting a war soon? No, definitely not. Folks not caring for their fellow citizens, only  interested in making profits, no matter what, withhold potatoes and some other basic foods from the market for monopoly and speculation. Some suspect that such criminals also intend to harm certain food supply for their own political reasons. Lately Tunisian authorities managed to discover and size 10 tons  of potatoes in a warehouse in outskirts of Sousse, 700 tons in Monastir, 40 tons in Madia, 2.2 tons in Bizerte. There are also other incidents where the concerned authorities' investigations were very successful. Thank heaven for that. It may sound strange that private tutoring outside educational institutions is banned by law, but not when one bears in mind the high percentage of pupils who have in the past been receiving private lessons by their teachers (boosting their income, those whose parents can pay thus get better results) . If the majority of students in a class are very weak, in my opinion either the pupils are exceptionally stupid or the teacher is not well trained. Teaching can be exciting, rewarding, fun, for both sides, but of course the teacher must not feel bored with teaching but kids used to spending lots of time on the street, no kindergarten, are not easy to educate. Parents should be made aware of this. (When I gave up teaching, my pupils protested, they wanted me to carry on.) A German politician suggested children should learn to read before starting school. It is estimated that every 5th Tunisian suffers from Diabetics, many not aware of this. Unfortunately quite a few products (soft drinks, including Coca Cola, cakes, and other processed foods) contain lots of sugar, much more than necessary, actually too much for my taste. -  The Pope urges investigations into  accusations of genocide committed against Palestinians. Interesting criminal court cases are about to happen, concerning Netanyahu, Trump and Mari Le Pen. The later can be sentenced to 5 years prison and equally long ban on all public/political functions (would mean no chance to become the next French president) plus a 2 million Euro fine. While the judge in Israel refused to further delay Netanyahu's court case, Trump was more successful. Judges had decided to postphone part of his cases until after the election and now the situation is difficult. The judges need a lot of courage if they intend to sentence the incoming president. Should it come to that, once in post, Trump will doubtlessly grant himself the 'Royal Pardon.' He inquired about this possibilty approx. 2 years ago and was advised, though this has never been done before in American history, the answer is Yes, he can. 

Another Season

 "The conscience of children is formed by the influence that surrounds them, their notions of good and evil are the result of the moral atmoshere they breath."  Jean Paul. "How did it happen that an enlightened country like Germany was pulled into Nazism? That question has occupied me since 'The Tin Drum' my first book. The story shows that one can never know how a person's life will unfold, there is no guarantee that a person will do what is right and avoid what is not right. "  Guenther Grass. " What makes old age so sad is not our joys but our hopes cease. "  Jean Paul.                                                                Middle of November, getting earlier dark, nights are colder, but during the day it still feels almost like summer, pretty hot, though, on the roof. Our feral family enjoys the sunshine, but it gets interrupted by occasionally thunder and heavy rain (badly needed). So we mustn't grumble. Certain food items like coffee, tea, sugar, butter, milk, bananas come and go, prices have risen, including for potatoes, so not always everywhere available. Gives us a chance not to take everything for granted. We are better off than many in the rest of the world, a paradise doesn't exist in any country. When you think you found it on earth, it certainly won't last forever. One can place one's household waste directly in one of those containers designed for garbage ( in various places) , usually within a few walking minutes, or leave it outside (in bins or plastic bags) to be collected on route by rubbish collection vans. At present no longer on a daily basis, exact program unknown. So we are not amused to discover some unknown neigbours add their garbage to ours. Left there for a couple of days starting to smell and attracting lots of flies. One of my visitors to my Cats' Table lately turned up with a big swollen cheek, guess a sign of an infection. Feeling sorry for the poor, gentle darling, I arranged an appointment with our vet. Sadly the little treasure didn't turn up today. I can only hope that he will be well enough to do so tomorrow. - Wondering why Americans with Arabic rootes voted for Trump, in spite of his often not exactly moslim- friendly rhetoric? Well, several stated that under the Biden administration their family members and friends died, their houses were destroyed," there is nothing worse Trump can do" . They said that they had warned for more than one year that Palestians need to be more protected, weapon sales must stop, but the Democrats didn't listen. Camilla Harris said she would continue the support for Israel and its "right to defence itself". So why should they vote for them? Trump intends to deport more 'illegal' immigrants than ever in American history. Listening to him I sometimes wonder whether he wants to leave America to the First Nation, people who once came from India (and according to new discovery also from West Africa). Much later Europeans arrived, e. g. Huguenots from France (their life threatened there because of their religion), poor Irish families, following a famine due to rotting potatoes, other mainly poor European people looking for a better life (including the Trumps). Donald's present wife, by the way, arrived with a visa from an Eastern European country and worked in US without a permit. Nowadays quite a few Israelis, not happy with the state Netanyahu created, decided to leave and immigrate to Germany. A Jewish couple who did so was asked: "What do you think of the Democracy in Israel?" They replied: "We think it would be a good idea." Please note, they did not say they hate their country, but that there is room for improvement, equal rights for all should be standard. 

Postcript Trying to think Positiv

 "How do we prevent Iran develop an atomic bomb, when, on the American side, dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is not recognized as a war crime."  "I have had my fill of hurtful words. I think especially egregious when citizens like me, who point out abuses in their country, are referred to as 'do - gooders'. This is how a phrase that can be used to stop an argument dead, becomes part of common usage. " Guenter Grass. "  "A man  never discloses his character as clearly as when he describes another. "    " You prove your worth with your actions, not with your mouth. "   Jean Paul.                        Providing my guests with breakfast at my " Cats' Table", suddenly some started to run away. What happened? Two youngsters were taking their German Shepherd sized dog for a walk, they had removed the lead, but then quickly put it back on again. Interestingly cats don't show the same reaction to all dogs, they seem to know which one is gentle and represents no threat whatsoever. Janina suffers from fungus and has a wound on her back. The application of a spray to the wound, as prescribed by our vet, appeared to be highly unpleasant for my little darling and she seemed "to think of murder", attacked me. I put Betadine on my wounds and ignored her. A little later Janina jumped on my lap and wanted to cuddle. No feelings of revenge, no hard feelings, amazing. Is that why cats don't get wrinkles? We could learn from cats. Life would be so much easier. - Garbage collection (at least in Sousse) has lately been reduced to only 4 to 6 times a week, reasons unknown, could be due to lack of staff, some garbage trucks out of service, a strike, an attempt to demonstrate the importance of regular garbage removal, or to reduce expenditures., after all, some citizens don't pay the charge for this important job, say they don't have the money to do so. Seems we (within limits) are paying for such neighbors as well, as the authorities presented us with a double bill on account of two doors belonging to our house. Well, we neither possess two houses nor do we share our house with tenants, only feral little treasures without any income, but they thank with the love they give us. Luckily I don't smoke, reduces our expenditures, so we won't grumble. As long as our little treasures don't require many medical treatments and medications, we get by. Lately the croquettes I leave outside for poor hungry cats are always gone in no time. Either the ferals' appetite has increased or some folks help themselves to get free pet food, or let their dogs eat our cats' croquettes. The later can cause diarrhea in dogs. In several European countries tinned tuna has lately been tested and a three times higher quantity of mercury than permitted was discovered. - Erdogan called Netanyahu an enemy of humanity. "International laws are being replaced by the rules of the jungle."  Israelian soldiers made videos of their rather strange army actions, (I am not saying all are doing this, but that is what can be seen on their videos) cheering while destroying Palestians property, entering Palestinian houses, playing with women's dresses and underwear, smashing crockery, TV sets, etc. Having posted such videos on internet, some fear now they may get identified. Fifteen top humanitarian  UN officials and partner organizations (e. g. Unicef, Oxfam) call on Israel to end its attack on Gaza. Their statement lists various violations of international humanitarian laws "that must stop," e. g. attacks on humanitarians and health workers trying to help, attacks on hospitals, killing patients, fighting inside hospitals, denying basic aid and life saving supplies. Israel has yet to provide evidence for  many of their accusations, e. g. against UNRWA. Can't Netanyahu understand their tasks? It is not a crime to help Palestinian civilians. It is not a crime to take the wounded to a hospital. As one doesn't need to negociate with friends, with whom does Netanyahu wish to hold peace talks? Lord have mercy.