I know. It’s hard to believe, but the sordid facts of the candidates seeking the title of President of the United States aren’t the only stories in the news this weekend. Here are five that would normally be above-the-fold or at least front page:
Hurricane Matthew: 900 dead in destroyed Haiti; 15 Dead in Flooded Southeast US
Hurricane Matthew left a path of destruction in Haiti, a country repeatedly pounded by natural disasters and unable to respond as catastrophe after catastrophe hits. Depending on your news source, the current death toll stands at nearly 900, with about 60,000 people displaced due to flooding and property destruction. In the southeastern US, Matthew caused record flooding and depending on your news source, is responsible for 12 – 15 deaths. On Tybee Island (near Savannah, GA), for example the storm surge reached 12.5 feet, beating the record high of 12.2 feet resulting from Hurricane David in 1979. Recommended read: Hurricane Matthew: Haiti tragedy repeats itself
Two Police Officers Shot to Death in Oasis of the Rich, Palm Springs
Palm Springs, CA general comes to mind as a place for golf, second homes and a just-outside-of-Los-Angeles art scene. On Saturday, Jose Gilbert Vega and Lesley Zerebny responded to a domestic disturbance call. At the site of the disturbance, a 26-year-old man shot them both dead. Vega, 63 was on duty only because he decided to pick up an overtime day. He was a 35-year police veteran due to retire in December. He was married and leaves eight children fatherless. Zerebny, 27 had only be a member of the Palm Springs police force for a year and a half. Until Saturday, no Palm Springs police officer had died in the line of duty since 1962. Recommended read: ‘He has a gun. He’s ready to shoot all the police.’ Fateful screams before 2 officers killed in Palm Springs
Two Trains Collided on Long Island, 33 Injured
A Long Island Railroad commuter train collided with a work train Saturday evening. 600 people were on board. 33 were injured. LIRR transports commuters in and out of the city from the East. That makes 13 major train accidents in the US thus far in 2016. In the full year of 2015, there were 19. A week earlier, a New Jersey Transit commuter train smashed into the platform at the Hoboken station, one of the busiest for commuters coming into New York City from the western side of the city. Recommended read: Long Island train derailment: 33 injured, services suspended
US Formally Accuses Russia of Election-related Hacks
President Obama publicly, formally accused Russia of the recent hacks of the Democratic Party, Clinton campaign and several other politically-linked organizations’ systems in an effort to influence the US election. While there has been quite a bit of public speculation about Russia’s involvement in these attacks, it is significant that the US head of state and commander-in-chief of the military has gone on record with a formal accusation. Now the question becomes whether the US will retaliate or place further sanctions on Russia. Cyber warfare is the modern version of a cold war as developed nations have extensive measures and countermeasures available to them should cyberwar be declared. Recommended read: U.S. formally accuses Russian hackers of political cyber attacks
On a Happier Note: Nobel Prizes Announced
Normally, the announcement of Nobel Prizes gets a bit of attention. The Swedish Royal Academy of Science announced Nobel Prizes for Science to nanotechnology researchers. Read more here. The nanomachines are especially interesting to me. Are they good or bad? Only time and the nature of man will tell. The most interesting Nobel Announcement was that of President Juan Manuel Santos, president of Colombia, who will be honored with the Nobel Peace Prize for 2016. He is being credited for his efforts to end that country’s 50-year civil war. This is particularly intriguing as peace has not quite been declared, and some suggest that the awarding of the prize could set efforts back in the pursuit of negotiating and end to the war. Recommended read: The Colombian president’s premature Nobel peace prize
Today (Sunday, October 9, 2016), will certainly be dominated by speculation about the debate this evening, the candidate’s shortcomings and the country’s deep ambivalence about the coming election.
Let us remember that the US remains the world’s largest economy, most powerful military and a country that overwhelmingly lives in peace and prosperity. There are class and race tensions that bubble beneath the surface, but that is for the people to resolve on a day-to-day, person-to-person basis. No politician will heal those wounds.