The summer is sometimes referred to as the silly season by journalists who suddenly have acres of air time to fill but no line-up of easy-pickings from the UK Parliaments to help. As a result, they get whipped into a frenzy about the craziest things, like the woman who was caught on CCTV putting a cat into a recycling bin. Goodness knows why she did it, but I was so grateful when it all came to an end. At least it had its lighter moments as this short video captured superbly.
But there has been much in the last month to remind us that just because politicians go on holiday, the problems of the world never do. The floods in Pakistan were so bad there was really no choice but to do what little could be done to just keep people alive, but then wait for the waters to subside. Everyone asks about climate change of course, and the Independent and the Guardian are brilliant sources of good information on the subject. As the momentum grows towards the next climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico later this year, I’d encourage you to read 'Why failure of climate summit would herald global catastrophe'. It hardly comes more urgent than this.
August also saw the killing of 10 workers in Afghanistan, both national staff and foreigners. The loss of these gifted men and women is a tragedy of the highest proportion. A day will come, we pray, when the blood spilt that day in the sands of Afghanistan will allow new life to blossom in that troubled nation.
And so to today, and President Barack Obama has managed to get Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas within striking distance of each other, though hopefully not literally. If I was tempted to be cynical about the seriousness with which some may approach these talks, I have to remind myself that cynicism is a luxury no-one can afford. Yesterday, four Israeli settlers woke up to a bright new day, and were dead within hours, Hamas claiming responsibility.
When the pain, the injustice and the madness of this world threatens to completely engulf us, it may be tempting to run away and bury our head in the sand. Distract ourselves with stories of cats in bins. But that is not our calling. Our faith gives us hope and I pray we never lose hope.
David Kerrigan
The woman should have known that, in today's era of CCTV cameras, she would be caught - red handed. Anyway, it could be a light incident but it was made into a bigger issue by the public's insatiable appetite for stories like it. There is no CCTV footage of people in Pakistan getting swept by the floods. If there is and it was shown on CNN, that would tell the whole story.
Posted by: Fernando Severns | 08 August 2011 at 13:16