海角大神

2022
October
28
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

October 28, 2022
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Yvonne Zipp
Features Editor

In his 42 years at 海角大神, David Clark Scott traveled the world: He roamed throughout Latin America as the Mexico City bureau chief and reached into Southeast Asia as Australia bureau chief. He supported and counseled dozens of Monitor reporters as international editor. When he wrote columns, his favorite stories were of people taking the time to help one another. He even produced an entire podcast.

In these times, when everyone is fixated on what went wrong, it鈥檚 important to look for what is going right, and sometimes, frankly, it needs to be at the top of the page.

Dave passed on this week. On his last day of work, he pitched three stories, any one of which would have made a lovely column. But, he told me, he鈥檇 already 鈥減ut a call in to the principal at the Nansemond Parkway Elementary School cuz, well, that鈥檚 the intro that tugs at my heart.鈥

It did mine, too, so I wanted to share it with you.

The Nansemond students in Suffolk, Virginia, have been learning a new language: sign language, so they can communicate with food nutrition service associate Leisa Duckwall, who is deaf.

It started with a fourth grade teacher, Kari Maskelony, who has deaf family members and started teaching her class. This month it spread when Principal Janet Wright-Davis decided the whole school would learn a new sign every week in honor of Disabilities Awareness Month.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think [the students] saw it as a disability,鈥 Dr. Wright-Davis told me over the phone. It was just a new way to communicate. Her biggest surprise? 鈥淗ow much they want to learn it.鈥

Their favorite sign: pizza.

The difference in the cafeteria is palpable, she says. Instead of pointing, as they used to, the students sign their requests. 鈥淪he鈥檚 smiling and they鈥檙e smiling, and it鈥檚 just a different environment,鈥 says Dr. Wright-Davis.

Ms. Duckwall has come to morning announcements to teach everyone new signs and has signed that day鈥檚 menu. Dr. Wright-Davis gets stopped in the hall by students signing good morning and wanting to show her what they鈥檝e learned. Instead of stopping at the end of this month, the students are going to keep learning all year.

The school had its Trunk or Treat event Thursday evening, and the children were signing as they celebrated Halloween.

鈥淥ne gentleman came out, and he was signing,鈥 Dr. Wright-Davis says. It made her realize the lessons wouldn鈥檛 be confined to the lunchroom or even the school. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to encounter someone, even if it鈥檚 just to say good morning, or please, or thank you. ... Now they know a little bit more to show some gratitude.鈥

There鈥檚 plenty to learn from Nansemond: Show some gratitude, look for ways to make people feel welcome, and seek out kindness and celebrate it when you find it. Dave always did.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Oded Balilty/AP
Israeli far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir (center), head of the Jewish Power party, campaigns in Hatikva Market in Tel Aviv, Oct. 21, 2022. A disciple of extremist anti-democratic ideologue Meir Kahane, and an ally today of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Ben-Gvir has himself been convicted of incitement.

It would seem like a given that cooperation is key to political success. Yet alliances can be fragile. In Israel鈥檚 fifth election in four years, one successful partnership crumbles even as an anti-democratic union gains strength.

A deeper look

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Graduate student Sean Fulcher holds up a piece of rock taken from deep within the Earth. It鈥檚 part of a project to heat Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

To solve humanity鈥檚 reliance on fossil fuels, solar and wind power isn鈥檛 enough. Some researchers and investors are looking down, not up. Our reporter finds ingenuity powering new efforts to produce heat and electricity聽by tapping the Earth鈥檚 core.

SOURCE:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

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Karen Norris/Staff

Film

Reiner Bajo/Netflix
Felix Kammerer stars as Paul B盲umer in the German version of "All Quiet on the Western Front," based on the 1929 bestselling novel of the same name.

German filmmaker Edward Berger鈥檚 version of 鈥淎ll Quiet on the Western Front鈥 is an effort to help his native country continue its discourse about war and responsibility.聽

Commentary

Love sometimes comes in the form of openness 鈥 even when that means revealing a brutal truth. Our commentator found that depth of love in the movie 鈥淭ill.鈥

Listen

Where 鈥榯he draft鈥 serves the nation, and the draftee too

Many countries require some form of national service. Our writer found signs of a new, balanced approach in Northern Europe, where war is at the doorstep but social responsibility seems still at the fore. From our weekly podcast.

Rebooting Conscription

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The Monitor's View

AP
An art teacher in Mumbai, India, makes paintings to congratulate new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Oct. 25.

For nearly a decade, India has been ruled by a political party rooted in Hindu nationalism. Many of its actions, critics lament, threaten a constitutional principle of secular rule by marginalizing people of other faiths, especially Muslims. Yet that sort of identity politics took a subtle hit this week from, of all places, Britain.

Rishi Sunak, whose family heritage lies in India, was chosen as Britain鈥檚 prime minister by the Conservative Party. Almost immediately, his entry into No. 10 Downing St. jolted debates among Indians around the world about their country鈥檚 treatment of minorities. Some, including prominent members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, celebrated Mr. Sunak鈥檚 rise as a justification for their brand of politics. Others saw it as a moral prompt.

鈥淚ndians in India have greeted the news of Sunak鈥檚 elevation with a feeling of awe and pride,鈥 wrote Siddharth Varadarajan, former editor of The Hindu, India鈥檚 national English-language newspaper. 鈥淏ut instead of feeling happy for themselves,鈥 he wrote, Indians should be asking what has happened 鈥渢o the religious diversity and cultural pluralism that has been part and parcel of Indian life for thousands of years.鈥

The debate in India reflects the breadth and subtlety of Mr. Sunak鈥檚 biography. As the grandson of immigrants, he says he is more British than Indian. 鈥淚 am thoroughly British, this is my home and my country, but my religious and cultural heritage is Indian, my wife is Indian. I am open about being a Hindu,鈥 he told Business Standard in 2015.

Mr. Sunak鈥檚 combined identity marks a sharp distinction from the assertive ethnic nationalism of rulers in China, Russia, and India, as well as the nativism of a few political movements in Europe and the United States. In the same interview, Mr. Sunak drew an observation from his time as a graduate student at Stanford Graduate School of Business in California. Religion pervades political life in America, he noted, 鈥渁nd that is not the case here, thankfully.鈥

He enters office not just when Britain鈥檚 economy is reeling from record high inflation, but also at a tumultuous time for its democracy. His unique identity 鈥 shaped by a mix of experiences across countries 鈥 explains why so many in India have sought this week to claim his rise as their own. Some latch on to his Hindu faith. Others to the possibility that India might follow Britain in putting high ideals over race or religion.

For now, Britain has crossed an important threshold. Mr. Sunak鈥檚 鈥渆levation is welcome, even precious,鈥 wrote Janan Ganesh, a columnist for Financial Times. 鈥淗is virtue isn鈥檛 competence. It is rectitude. If all he does for a couple of years is give institutions their due and obey the law ... he will be a reprieve for British democracy.鈥

For India, meanwhile, a debate has been renewed over treating all citizens as equal, even able to become a prime minister.


A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥 in its various forms 鈥 is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥 whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

When faced with uncertainty, we can let God鈥檚 love and peace, rather than fear, carry us forward.


A message of love

Tyrone Siu/Reuters
People picnic near the Victoria Harbour during sunset in Hong Kong, Oct. 28, 2022.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Have a great fall weekend! We鈥檒l see you on Halloween, when Sarah Matusek will report in from a Colorado softball field, where women in their 60s through 90s are finding joy in taking their turn at bat.

More issues

2022
October
28
Friday

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