Nearing the End of the Year.

 "Keep true to the dreams of your youth." Friedrich Schiller. "A man is not idle because he is absorved in thoughts. There is visible and invisable labour." "To die is nothing, but it is terrible not to live." Victor Hugo. "If you are going to live by the riverside, make friends with the crocodiles." Ubuntu African Proverb.  "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but becausd of those who look on and do nothing." Albert Einstein. "A man without education is like a building without foundation." George Bernhard Shaw.                                                                                                                                        In US a German shephard dog went missing, then the door bell of the owner rang - it was the dog (caught on camera), waiting to be let back in. A knock at our door. My husband called: "I am coming." In front of the door stood a cat. Some ferals manage to open doors, if there is a handle. In addition we had a cat that used to bang the key attachment against the door, when he wanted to enter a certain room. Several cats learned this method from him. Experts say cats can approx. reach the intelligence level of a 2 year old child. In spite of the meanwhile often cold and rainy days the majority of the youngsters on my road still wear the open summer sandales. A homemade drum from an empty paint bucket and a wooden kitchen utensil, covered in plastic, ensures it doesn't get too quiet around here, it's to celebrate the starting school holiday, I am told. It never gets boring in our quarter. Poor, gentle Schmusi went over the rainbow. He lately lost a lot of weight, a sad sight, just bones and fur. The vet had diagnosed anemia. Our sweet little treasure loved to cuddle and loved his food, but it didn't stop him from getting thinner and thinner in spite of this and his medication. In Germany it was discovered that so called "chewing bones", made in China out of cows' skins, caused 50 dogs to suddenly fall sick, suffering panic attacks, cramps and sudden aggresion. Luckily it can be cured, first step to calm down and relax, keep the dog in a dark room, without noise. Plus veterinarian treatment .  Now that less folks are sending letters (mainly elderly folks), the post office in France has taken on additinal tasks, delivery of cooked meals and on 6 days per week checking that elderly folks, living on their own, are okay and don't require help. Sounds like a good idea. We can learn so much from each other, i. e. fighting rabbies. Old methods that aren't very effective, why continue (some vaccinatons are meanwhile carried out here, but not on a big enough scale), when other countries are actually successful without killing the poor, so called strays (all too often pets kicked out for convienence, to save money, owners' lacking sense of responsibility). Antoine De Saint-Exupery once said that we are during our whole life responsible for that what we have made known to us. Wise words, but how many are listening? We seem to be living in a world that usually doesn't allow the best to make it to the top. The other day Jimmy Carter, 100 years old, Nobel Peace Price holder, passed away. In my opinion the best president the US ever had and will have for the foreseeable future, highly dedicated to human rights, peace and democracy. Now politicians all over the world praise him (including  Joe Biden and Donald Trump), even though, many of them don't share his values - judging by their actions. At least the Pope condems the cruelity of war that kills children and the bombing of schools and hospitals. UNRWA says that a child is killed every hour in Gaza, more than 14,500 since the start of war. So far

7 babies have frozen to death. In view of 70 % of destroyed houses, makeshift shelters that don't deserve to be named as such, minus 10 degree centigrate, heavy rain falls, lack of blankets, food, water and medication, it is getting worse. Meanwhile all hospitals are destroyed in Northern Gaza. Alon Pinkas, a former Israelian ambassador, has a clear opinion: "Hospitals should be out of bounds, hospitals should not be targeted, period." What was or was not in the hospitals "doesn't matter."  Netanyahu sees Hamas terrorists everywhere, it's a magic word that excuses everything, but he all too often fails to produce proof. Violation of international laws and regulations are the new standards, who can say he/she didn't know? At the end of the year we always hope the next one will be better. May God/Allah have mercy with us, punish the evil and provide those in charge with wisdom, empathy and respect for human and animal rights.