Earth Day Needs To Take A Back Seat

The more you know... 'Palestine' was a British creation. 

You may have missed it but yesterday was Earth Day. While this particular box on the calendar may be important for some, it really takes a back seat for many of us as there is a much more important moment to celebrate. Actually, it begins with a day of mourning which is quickly followed by celebration. Besides, it is a little late to be celebrating Tu B’Shevat.

Beginning on Tuesday night and into Wednesday we honor the sacrifices that many Israelis, soldiers and civilians, who lost their lives. While Yom Hazikaron has been traditionally dedicated to fallen soldiers, commemoration has now been extended to civilian victims of political violence, Palestinian political violence, and terrorism in general. This Israeli Memorial Day is a serious and somber occasion as there is no one in the Jewish State who has not been effected by these losses. It is a day when, for a brief moment, the world stops and remembers…

We honor those sacrifices but celebrating the following day. We remember the lives lost and honor their memories by celebrating our Independence. It wasn’t long ago when this was impossible having been scattered into the diaspora for hundreds of years, persecuted, and murdered. Now, on Yom Ha’atzmaut, we celebrate the fact that we have been able to return home, live independently, and defend ourselves.

With all that has transpired in recent years, particularly in recent months, this day is more important than ever. It is a victorious moment in our history that we must carry with us along with the horrors that preceded our return to our homeland. Our existence, our independence, is a constant struggle that is continuously under attack from those around us. Some attacks are obvious while other undermining efforts are quite subtle… this has definitely been proven lately.

We all have our differences in this uniquely diverse holy land but it is also that same land that binds us together as one people. This bond goes well beyond religion as there are more than just Jews in the Jewish State. This bond is to the land, to one another, and to our right to exist. Our independence brings us together as one people, as Israelis.

So while some people, particularly in the United States, saw the day as one dedicated to nature and the environment, there are many that see this as a time to honor sacrifices as well as celebrate achievements. It is a time that marks the loss of life as well as a return home. It is both a day to celebrate people and the land, our land, our homeland, the Holy Land.

Leaving Things Unfinished

While it inevitably happens from time to time, I hate leaving things that are half finished but sometimes other priorities come to the fore and there is no other option. Eventually, I go back and complete that item or project but there is generally no guarantee when that will happen. However, that task is always on my mind and it doesn’t take much for me to return to the work that was once abandoned.

I was reminded of this when hearing the president speak last week. Unfortunately, his hand had to be forced in order to return to an unfinished war. There was no golf course to which he could retreat that would hide him away from that speech that you could tell he was dreading. When the words were spoken we listened hoping that we would hear of a solution that we could all stand behind. For many of us, the ‘solution’ presented fell far short of what we wanted to hear.  

The threat that we currently face from ISIL is one that many of use feared would grow out of our abrupt departure from the region. We hoped to hear of an all-out campaign to obliterate this terrorist organization that some report to be as much as 31,000 strong. While we have been engaging in targeted strikes, this does not seem to be stemming their growth. We need to show strength but we were left with the following rhetoric from the president:

Now, it will take time to eradicate a cancer like ISIL.  And any time we take military action, there are risks involved –- especially to the servicemen and women who carry out these missions.  But I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil.  This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground.  This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.  And it is consistent with the approach I outlined earlier this year:  to use force against anyone who threatens America’s core interests, but to mobilize partners wherever possible to address broader challenges to international order. 

With a government a mere days old at the time of the speech and our greatest source of intelligence in the region, Israel, having to fight alone to defend their borders, we have little regional support that could counter this growing threat. There are times when overwhelming force is not the answer but this is not one of those situations. We gave up once, we let this threat grow unchecked, and we failed in finishing the job. We can’t let that happen again and trying to claim victory from a distance is not a viable solution.

There is a time for rhetoric… not now. There is a time for negotiations… not now. There is a time to let others handle the problem… not now, we started it. There is a time to step on their necks and not stop until they are wiped off the map and relegated to the biography of a failed president… that time is now. Now is the time to claim victory and fight for the peace and stability of the region.

Things Could Have Been Different…

Another year has come and gone and I can still remember the chaos that surrounded us all on this day 13 years ago. The memories, which I wrote about on this blog last year, still remain and the emotions that flooded both my heart and mind, while faded, still linger. I was one of the lucky ones in that I didn’t know anyone who lost their life as the Manhattan skyline forever changed but, unfortunately, I know many who have since lost their lives in resulting wars.

I think about them from time to time and wonder if I had been able to make it through basic training. I wonder how things would have been different if my body had held up. These are the thoughts that crowd my mind during this day. I guess you could say that I am also fortunate in this regard as well because if I wasn’t discharged the following summer, there is no guarantee that I would be here today.

This is a day of remembrance and reflection for me. Even having working in Manhattan for a number of years, I have only been to ground zero once. However, I can remember the chill that came over me changing trains in Brooklyn… do I take the A, C, or E to work today? I remember that year, I couldn’t take the E, I had to take the A train and get to mid-town as quickly as possible. While it wasn’t necessarily logical, I couldn’t bring myself to walk onto the E train as it waited for passengers at the station.

Now, far removed from those days in New York City, I was sitting and talking with my colleagues about where they were that morning. Some of us were in college, a couple were working, and a few were still sitting in their grade school classes not fully comprehending what was happening as the events unfolded. I guess you could say that none of us could comprehend at the time.

For the first time, I am witnessing the change in the perception of events that I so vividly lived through. The age gap is slowly widening and I am meeting more and more people for whom the memory of this day seems more of the abstract variety rather than the visceral. I will never forget that day and I will forever be grateful for the twists that occurred in my life since then that not only allows me to look back but appreciate all that has changed, all that has happened, and all that could have been different.

Israel Under Fire (From More Than Rockets)

So, while under rocket attack from Hamas, Israel negotiated a cease fire. But, honestly, let’s call this what it really is… giving in to the mounting international pressure (especially from the anti-Israel UN) so that you can have a few days of silence before Hamas launches more rockets, you retaliate, and Israel is deemed the aggressor. Basically, a giant Middle Eastern circle jerk.

What happened to the hard line that Bibi seemed so proud to be walking? What happened to the putting an end to this conflict once and for all? Where did the common sense go?

Honestly, we shouldn’t be surprised. This is basically what has happened every time ever since Israeli politicians began giving up land fought for and earned by the blood of their fellow Israelis. This is a dangerous trend that seems to have no end and that, at best, Israel comes out of the conflict a little worse off in the eyes of the media and the gullible public. Of course, this brings up another interesting story that was making the media rounds today.

A former AP correspondent, Motti Friedman, published a story in Tablet magazine about the failings of the main stream media in reporting the war in Israel and reporting on Israel in general. This is a tremendous read and one that should be noted as one of the few, if not the only, honest account of the world media and their treatment of the Jewish state. Unfortunately, this kind of reporting is not new as Freidman writes:

“The lasting importance of this summer’s war, I believe, doesn’t lie in the war itself. It lies instead in the way the war has been described and responded to abroad, and the way this has laid bare the resurgence of an old, twisted pattern of thought and its migration from the margins to the mainstream of Western discourse—namely, a hostile obsession with Jews. The key to understanding this resurgence is not to be found among jihadi webmasters, basement conspiracy theorists, or radical activists. It is instead to be found first among the educated and respectable people who populate the international news industry; decent people, many of them, and some of them my former colleagues.”

While reporters face tremendous danger, death threats, and, as we have seen recently, death, there is still little criticism surrounding those who are making these threats, posing these dangers, and taking innocent lives. Not only has it prevented reporting of the facts from actually occurring, it has prevented the truth from being told on more than one occasion. This is best explained when Freidman writes:

“There has been much discussion recently of Hamas attempts to intimidate reporters. Any veteran of the press corps here knows the intimidation is real, and I saw it in action myself as an editor on the AP news desk. During the 2008-2009 Gaza fighting I personally erased a key detail—that Hamas fighters were dressed as civilians and being counted as civilians in the death toll—because of a threat to our reporter in Gaza. (The policy was then, and remains, not to inform readers that the story is censored unless the censorship is Israeli. Earlier this month, the AP’s Jerusalem news editor reported and submitted a story on Hamas intimidation; the story was shunted into deep freeze by his superiors and has not been published.)”

This is particularly startling when taken into account the means by which Hamas is reported. Actually, it’s more about how much is not written and how focused the media wolves are on every aspect of Israeli politics, culture, etc. It is not about wanting to better understand, it is all about finding the minute failings (this is a term applied by the outsider) in individuals and groups and applying them to Israel as a whole. This is not reporting, this is find a way to paint a picture, frame a story, box a topic that fits the views of the reporter and the media outlet. As Freidman explains:

“Israeli actions are analyzed and criticized, and every flaw in Israeli society is aggressively reported. In one seven-week period, from Nov. 8 to Dec. 16, 2011, I decided to count the stories coming out of our bureau on the various moral failings of Israeli society—proposed legislation meant to suppress the media, the rising influence of Orthodox Jews, unauthorized settlement outposts, gender segregation, and so forth. I counted 27 separate articles, an average of a story every two days. In a very conservative estimate, this seven-week tally was higher than the total number of significantly critical stories about Palestinian government and society, including the totalitarian Islamists of Hamas, that our bureau had published in the preceding three years.”

For those of us who have been paying attention to the media, listening to what is actually being said, and talking to those living in Israel we have been aware of this massacre of the truth perpetuated by the media. I am grateful for the honesty that has been so succinctly reported in this piece and I hold out hope that, one day, actual reporting will return to the Middle East and Israel in particular. Maybe we can have a few honest voices on the ground when this current ceasefire is shattered by the sound of rocket fire.

Prolonging The Conflict

Israeli-distributed candies in the West Bank bear the slogan
'Here are some sweets because Hamas is making life bitter in the West Bank.'

For more than a month, Hamas and Israel have been doing back and forth both on the ground and in the conference room. Papers and missiles have been exchanged on a regular basis with no realistic end in sight. Those that haven’t been keeping current on the conflict probably don’t realize that it has been that long… it seems as though this is one of those unfortunate wars when we lose sight of the beginning.

During this prolonged conflict, ceasefires have come and gone and holidays have passed by without peace prevailing. Tisha B'Av offered little respite during this time but hope remained palpable as people reflected on the loss, the strife, the anger, the fear. What are usually marked as days unlike other in the surrounding blocks of the calendar, were a continuation of the same emotions dominating the regional psyche. For Jews, this was just another event to mourn during this sorrowful day.

Tisha B'Av, the Fast of the Ninth of Av, is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which have occurred on the ninth of Av.

Tisha B'Av primarily commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av (the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.; the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.).

Although this holiday is primarily meant to commemorate the destruction of the Temple, it is appropriate to consider on this day the many other tragedies of the Jewish people, many of which occurred on this day, most notably the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and from England in 1290.

It is during these times of what is usually holy celebration and reverence when the claws are drawn throughout the world. The back and forth between conflict and ceasefire, holiday and conflict, has the world in an uproar for all the wrong reasons. So who is to blame? Unlike many of the protests and ‘reports’ Israel is not to blame for the elusiveness of peace.

Every ceasefire that has been negotiated and strong armed have not been times for the people of Israel to break or the IDF to relax. They have served as perpetual countdowns to the next rocket to sail over the boarder at innocent civilians. This FACT seems to be lost on the world. However, as we have reflected on what has seemed like a prolonged period of mourning, we have kept in the forefront of our minds that, while the situation is tenuous, it will pass and be but a memory which we will forever remember. We are strong, we will fight, and we will not allow the world to destroy our land or expel our people. Hope will prevail and peace will once again return to our land.

Just An Inconvenience

 

In the 45 minutes that is took for our food to arrive at the table, Armageddon had already passed by the front window. What had been a nearly empty restaurant when we arrived was quickly beginning to fill up as those without power poured in the through the doors for a late dinner. With the occasional flickering of the lights, the dining room filled to near capacity with new guests arriving and those who had been there long before we arrived refusing to leave.

By the time we walked out the door the winds had calmed and the rain was a slow drizzle of large drops. The street was spotted with a confetti of leaves and the clouds began to lighten as we approached our cars. It was just a quick storm but the sirens and fire trucks charging down the road let us know that the rain was not the primary concern. It didn’t take long before we found ourselves inching up to inoperable intersections that seemed to encourage people to put their foot down and pray that no one decided to turn in front of them.

My wife continued down the road as I quickly stopped by the lodge to check the building. It didn’t take long and I was back on the road within a few minutes. About halfway home my phone rang and I can’t say I was surprised when my wife said that the power was out at our apartment building. Because of changes made since we moved in two and half years ago, this is no longer a rare occurrence. During Sandy, with the old systems in place, the power stayed on… now, 20-30 minutes of intense wind and rain and the building is completely shut down. Thanks PECO! In fact, the power remained absent from our apartment until the early morning hours when we were both trying to sleep in a pool of sweat.  

At least we didn’t have to clean the fridge out… yes, that issue has yet to be resolved. As if we didn’t need the extra motivation to move when our lease is up. But, in the end, this is nothing more than an inconvenience. And without the distraction of the television or internet constantly barraging my senses, it has forced me to think about what many of our friends are experiencing in Israel. As I write this there are rockets headed toward Tel Aviv and toward our old (literally) neighborhood in Jerusalem. And while there is a certain part of me that is glad that we are here with this minor inconvenience there is another part of me that wishes we were there with our friends standing together as if to say “bring it, we’re not going anywhere!” This is just an inconvenience. Baruch Hashem and may G-d bless and keep Israel and her people safe during this period of conflict and for all time.

And So It Begins

A friend of mine in Israel posted this on Facebook tonight:

“So, it's started. And it has a name. Operation Protective Edge or "צוק איתן". #bringit”

And now, as I write, the planes are in the air, the rockets are flying into Israel, and I am sitting here is safety, holding my breath, waiting, hoping, and wishing there was something I could do. I am waiting for the rockets to be silenced, the sirens to cease their echoes, and the air to once again be still. I am waiting for the updates from friends, hoping that all are safe and not shaken too badly from the latest escalation.

I am waiting for the hatred to be posted to Facebook. The post by supposedly peace loving people who will inevitably condemn the fact that Israel is, once again, defending itself after a prolonged (I think too long) period of attacks against innocent people. It has happened before and I am sure that my friends list will shrink by at least a couple again this time around a well. They can do what they want... I know that I am in the right to support Israel and I don't understand how you can oppose the operation when I keep reading posts like this...

“Soroka hospital moving preemies and baby departments to bomb shelter.”

Undoubtedly there will be heartbreaking stories and even some of the preparations that take place can be hard to read as, from my perspective here in the US, this is something that I do not experience. However, that small part of me, that Israeli part of me, understands the pain, humor, and heartbreak that is woven in the following statement: 

“There's snow days, hurricane days... in Israel we have rocket days. Tomorrow is a rocket day. People in the south check to see if you have school/university tomorrow before you go.”

Of course, the pervasive emotion is anger. Anger at those murderers who served as the catalyst for this escalation, anger at hamas for seeking murder as a resolution, and anger at all those people and countries that hate us just for being who we are and for holding sacred the land which G-d has bestowed upon us. This is our land. How dare you bastardize history to serve your murderous ambitions!

While I am not a proponent of war… bring it! This has got to come to a resolution at some point and turning the other way while you fire rockets at women and children doesn’t seem to be working so… bring it! Mourning the defenseless that you have murdered and calling for the end to the violence obviously falls on deaf ears so… bring it! While Israel and the IDF have showed remarkable restraint in the past and have not occupied the terrorist territories, it is time to put an end to this, it is time to bring it!

*Thank you Laura Ben-David for keeping us all up to date. Stay safe!

 

Embrace The Change Brought About By A Simple Declaration

Sorry to disappoint but this is not what it is all about.

Today we celebrate a moment in our history that impacts all of us. The signing of the Declaration of Independence is one of the most pivotal moments in history that ha rippled throughout the world and across generations. What began as an act of treason is now celebrated as a moment when the people rose up against an oppressive government. Today is the day when we celebrate the power of a nation fed up with an overreaching nobility taking a stand, reclaiming their rights, and declaring their independence.

On this day we also remember those who have fought for the ideas and ideals embraced those many summers ago in Philadelphia. It has taken the blood of too many good men to ensure the thriving vitality of the tree of liberty and yet those lives lost are too often forgotten during this time of celebration. And it is those lives that we disgrace when we slowly strip the people of the rights that we fought so hard for and sacrificed so much to secure. While history does not change the perspective and lens used to view that which shaped the world can sometimes cast a drunken delirium on the current status of the nation.

Too often people forget that we fought for freedom. We fought to ensure that the people maintain their rights. We were given the ability to pursue happiness not the guarantee of all life’s pleasures. We brought about change that shifted the power from the powerful to the people. We all have rights.

We now find ourselves in a situation when entitlement and an overreaching government are once again trying to dominate our daily lives. The freedoms that we once fought for and cherished are now be questioned and deemed radical and dangerous. The independence and individuality that we once enjoyed is now seen as rebellious and racist. The thing that we once had to work hard for and earn are now preached to be that which everyone should have regardless of the effort and deservingness of the individual.

We cannot be given everything nor expect to be given anything. We are one nation of many people with individual rights. We each have to embrace those rights, decide for ourselves whether we are going to exercise certain rights, and respect the decisions of others as to whether or not they will embrace the freedoms that those rights provide. It took tremendous acts of defiance to secure those rights and found this nation and it took courage to defend those rights. Now we must remember those men who stood before us and let their legacy fuel the bravery we need now to exercise our rights.

D-Day + 70

As I am sure you have read many times over already, today we mark the 70^th anniversary of Operation Overlord, more commonly referred to as D-Day. There are countless stories that we have all read and numerous accounts that have been relayed over the years. Some have resonated more deeply than others but one thing remains constant, these were men who accomplished something extraordinary. There are not many people that can say that they changes the course of history or, in many respects, saved the world but these men earned that right without question.

I have known many men during my life that played a part in that seminal event. I have had the privilege to talk at great length about their experiences and each time it was not about what they did or their actions, it was about all of them pushing forward as one unified force working together to achieve what some thought was impossible. These selfless men, some making the ultimate sacrifice, served honorably not just for their country but for humanity.

Seventy years later and few are still with us that lived through the courageous actions of that day. However, there are men still with us who lived though that campaign and are taking this day to remember those who fell beside them and recall the small victories of that day that culminated in the winning of a war and victory for all people. One veteran D-Day paratrooper, Jim 'Pee Wee' Martin, is even marking this occasion by reenacting his D-Day jump.

This day, and every day for that matter, we should be thankful for the freedom that these men fought for and the way of life many gave their lives to defend. We remain a free people thanks to those men who served to protect and defend us. This, the greatest generation, is a part of all of us as no one can say that their family wasn’t impacted by the war. These ordinary men demonstrated the good that humanity is capable of when we band together for a common cause. The showed us that extraordinary results are the product of men who ardently serve a righteous goal.

The men who fought on this day, the men and women who supported the war effort, those who served before and since with the same duty and honor should forever be praised for their sacrifices and service. D-Day while seen as a single campaign was the result of the work at home and abroad for month before the war to ensure victory. Remember those and thank those who made victory possible who ensured that freedom and liberty survived the darkest time in modern history.

A Memorial Day Perspective

Gettysburg National Cemetery, 2013.

Today is one of those days when I can’t help but be grateful for sacrifices made by others to ensure that we are able to live the lives that we do. Without those who gave all for this country we would not be able to enjoy the rights and freedom that we do today. It is for this reason that I am so angered when some insists on stripping the rights and freedom of people through the stroke of a pen which flies in the face of the sacrifices made to preserve all that we have in this country.

As I have done before, to give you a concise description of the holiday, I am pasting the introduction below that can be found on Wikipedia:

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the men and women who died while serving in the country's armed forces. The holiday, which is celebrated every year on the last Monday of May, was formerly known as Decoration Day and originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the war. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service. It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.

Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries.

Annual Decoration Days for particular cemeteries are held on a Sunday in late spring or early summer in some rural areas of the American South, notably in the mountains. In cases involving a family graveyard where remote ancestors as well as those who were deceased more recently are buried, this may take on the character of an extended family reunion to which some people travel hundreds of miles. People gather on the designated day and put flowers on graves and renew contacts with kinfolk and others. There often is a religious service and a "dinner on the ground," the traditional term for a potluck meal in which people used to spread the dishes out on sheets or tablecloths on the grass. It is believed that this practice began before the American Civil War and thus may reflect the real origin of the "memorial day" idea.

Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veterans Day; Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving, while Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans.

One amendment that I believe that should be made to this holiday is to honor those active duty personnel and veterans who lost their lives due to physical or psychological injuries received in combat. This is an issue that seems to be forgotten, especially considering the controversies running rampant in the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and VA Hospitals throughout the country. We need to honor those veterans fighting those battles beyond the theater of war and do all that we can to ensure that they are not one of those fallen after the war is over.

We must honor those who fought and remember what the fought for. While an imperfect union, it is the best that we have and we should not allow the flick of a pen to change the course of our country and question the freedom in this country that we all tend to take for granted. We must remember, support, and defend all that those men and women gave their lives to defend. That is the best way we can celebrate Memorial Day today and every day.

Where Were You?

Twelve years ago today I stumbled out of bed and, without turning on my computer or the television, slowly made my way to my first Tuesday morning class. At the time, I was a student at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts and the early September weather made it difficult to keep progressing in the direction of the Academic building. The walk seemed a bit unusual as there were not as many students out and about as I was expecting. That thought didn’t last for long as is it could have been explained by the simple fact that it was an early class.   

I walked into the academic building and did notice out of the corner of my eye that a building was on fire but I didn’t give it a second thought as I didn’t pay attention to the location or reports that were scrolling across the silent screen. Still groggy, I finished my morning journey and settled into a seat waiting for others to arrive. About 15 minutes later every student was accounted for and the quick picture from the television passed to the back of my mind.

The discussion was opened up as soon as the young professor entered the room. We were all a little thrown off as the majority of us had stumbled our way into the classroom paying little attention to the things happening around us. Within a few minutes we were brought up to date as to the latest theories and assumptions. We were wide awake and ready to head out the door within 15 minutes of the class starting. There was little the school could do to keep us in class.

Some students ran out the door while other stayed in their seats with a flood of thoughts running through their minds and passed their eyes. I guess you could say I was in the middle. I slowly packed my things up as I was trying to remember if my dad had an appointment in New York that day. That thought was still running through my mind as I walked down the hall and into the entryway where I looked back up at the television I had passed about 20 minutes earlier. As soon as my eyes met the screen the second plane hit.

This is what I remember seeing when I turned to look at the screen.

As soon as I saw the ring of fire wrap around the tower, I pulled my cell phone (which I had just gotten a month prior) and called home. I don’t know how but the call went through. Everyone was home, everyone was okay, and everyone was glued to the television as I could hear Peter Jennings’ voice in the background.

Once I knew my family was safe at home I started walking back to my dorm but I soon found myself not wanting to go back to my room and just sit in front of the television. Instead I made my way to the administration building, walked around the side, and sat out back looking over the water at Salem on the opposite coast. For many the planes hitting the towers is the memory that will never fade from their mind but for me that it just one of the imaged emblazoned on my gray matter. One of the other images is the fighter jet which came screaming down the coast low enough that I could see the details on the mask of the pilot.

It was at that point when the gravity of the morning truly set in and I knew it was time that I went back to my room and attempt to find out what was happening. Flipping between the channels I stopped tapping the numbers on the remote just as the camera followed the men and women falling to their deaths. While I will always remember the plane flying into the building and the jets screaming over head, I will forever be haunted by the sight of people jumping out of the windows and falling between the floating sheets of paper.

The rest of the day was a blur as friends and classmates ran from one building to another and one phone to another while trying to make sense of the day. By the time we went to sleep no one had made sense of the day and no one would. All we could do was hope that tomorrow would be better than today.