Paging the village

Of course, The Debate, but does society win with the lack of civility shown by the debaters? It sends a wrong message especially to young people. There’s a sort of trash talk takes precedence, and which has unfortunately gone mainstream. It undermines the cause, not just of good race relations, but of all relationships. And again elder kindred were ignored as a natural support system and also a group that might need support — as well as contact, interaction with those younger. Both candidates are grandparents and there is a grandmother in the White House about whom we hear almost nothing. Incidentally, this year Grandparents Day fell on 9/11 and I thought of bereaved grandparents who have little access to their grandchildren whose father or mothers were killed on that most terrible of days. And of course you don’t have to be a grandparent or a grandchild to need that supportive intergenerational support system. It takes a village, indeed.

Surely the big story this week is the death of former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres. The world’s foremost leaders attended his funeral, where his countless and extraordinary accomplishments were rightfully praised, but too little if anything would have been said about the stroke he suffered on Sept. 13 and how this awful disorder desperately needs more attention paid to prevention and treatment. Above all for a better understanding by all is needed of the utter helplessness of a severe stroke victim. And yes, I’m going to say it, if strokes did not predominantly afflict older people, more attention would in fact be paid. Too little was said about the likely suffering of a great leader, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. One news piece did say when he was first stricken that he was able to shake his son’s hand. Are you like me at risk for stroke, an atrial fibrillation victim or have someone you love been stricken. If we push for more attention and achieve — and in the name of Peres too — that would be his greatest accomplishment.

And the big traffic story is of the train derailment at Hoboken station. By withholding critical funds that would help establish greater safety on the rails and in public transportation overall, government hasn’t fulfilled its primary duty to protect cities. Trains are still the safest mode of travel on land, more so than buses and infinitely more than private cars; Attention must be paid and support must be had.