Writing my recent post called “Educating for Peace” reminded of one of my first clients, a gentleman by the name of Dan McGee, who casually mentioned on day that he considered himself a “citizen of Earth,” as opposed to the United States.

We live in a country in which a huge number of residents will tell you with great authority (and not too much thought) that “America is the greatest country on Earth.” If I were to make such a statement, I’d first consider what this actually means, in terms of health, longevity, happiness, education, equality of justice, environmental responsibility, wealth distribution, capacity for kindness, and compassion for people who may not look or worship like we do.

I know that such thinking doesn’t hold much water among the Fox News devotees and MAGA folks, but somehow that’s OK with me.

We Are Citizens of Earth

There’s no question that something has gone incredibly wrong with the United States, and, as shown at left, you don’t have to be an American to see that.

The question is what to do about it.  Trump is not a state representative from South Dakota, nor is he the mayor of Houston.  He’s the U.S. President, and the majority of Congress do anything he asks as required not to earn his vengeance.

Trump from New Zealand’s Perspective

The article here describes a phenomenon that can occur to hurricanes: their wind-speed grows rapidly.

Hurricane Melissa underwent what meteorologists call “rapid intensification,” exploding from a 70-mph tropical storm Saturday morning Oct. 25 to a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds by 5 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 26. It has since reached Category 5 strength, with winds of 175 mph.

Rapid intensification is a process in which a storm undergoes accelerated growth: The phenomenon is typically defined to be a tropical cyclone (whether a tropical storm or hurricane) intensifying by at least 35 mph in a 24-hour period.

Questions (that our kids should be able to answer from their science classes):

#1 How is this intensification powered?  Faster winds have more energy than slower winds, so where does this energy come from?

Answer: It’s by unusually warm sea water — in this case, in the Caribbean Sea.

#2:  OK, but what provides the energy that warms the water?

Answer: The sun.  What we’re experiencing right now on Earth is called “global warming,” meaning that our planet’s atmosphere is trapping more of the sun’s radiant energy, which is heating up our atmosphere, as well as our oceans.

My wife and I have a friend in Kingston, Jamaica’s largest city, which is in Melissa’s crosshairs.  We’re rooting for you, Richard.

How Hurricane Melissa Underwent ‘Rapid Intensification’