海角大神

Today we explore the racial disparities underlying the pandemic, Joe Biden鈥檚 #MeToo uproar, the definition of an 鈥渆ssential鈥� business, how a Monitor writer beat COVID-19, and the films of Indian director Satyajit Ray.

First, some thoughts on how we greet each other.

For millennia, the handshake has been a gesture of peaceful intentions, perhaps even a way to ensure the other person isn鈥檛 carrying a weapon.听

In modern times, the handshake has usually stood for a simple 鈥渉ello.鈥� But it could also carry deep significance. Last weekend was the 75th anniversary of a historic World War II handshake: the moment when allied American and Soviet soldiers met on a bridge over the Elbe River 鈥� effectively cutting Germany in two and signaling the Nazis鈥� imminent defeat.

Sadly, the global pandemic forced the cancellation of in-person commemorations of the Elbe handshake. But that doesn鈥檛 mean the聽United States and Russia can鈥檛 still work together on matters of existential importance as my friend, retired Brig. Gen. Peter Zwack, wrote in聽听苍别飞蝉辫补辫别谤.听

Extending the New START treaty, the last strategic U.S.-Russia nuclear weapons accord, is Exhibit A. The urgency of this idea was made clear last December at a U.S.-Russia forum that General Zwack and I both attended, as I聽wrote.听

There were plenty of handshakes at that meeting. Another participant,聽Robert Michler, a top surgeon in New York City doing his part to battle COVID-19, says he now 鈥測earns for the days of a handshake.鈥澛燗las, that simple gesture is likely a thing of the past. But new customs will spring up. It鈥檚 the expression of goodwill that counts.听