On May 4, the Israeli Occupation High Court approved one of the largest forcible transfers of Palestinians from their land since 1967. Over 1,300 Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta, an area in the south Hebron hills, are facing forced displacement by Israeli forces on a moment’s notice. Palestinian Bedouins have lived on this land for 918 years. 

Masafer Yatta is an area in the South Hebron Hills area of the occupied West Bank consisting of fourteen Palestinian villages that is home to 13,000 inhabitants. Its economy is based on farming and raising of sheep and goats.  In the 1980s, the Israeli army designated part of this area a closed military zone for training and sought to remove the communities for this use. Palestinian residents have continually faced demolition of their homes, cisterns, water mains, roads, structures, and schools. Israeli military equipped with bulldozers destroys it all. Israel forbids Palestinians to build homes on their own land, connect to water and power grids, and graze livestock. 

Right from the get go I must gush that in terms of sheer scale – optically and sonically – as staged by LA Opera, Aida’s scene set outside of the city walls wherein the masses are assembled to all hail the conquering heroes is among the most magnificent sequences I’ve ever experienced at a live theater in my entire life. Amidst fluttering banners and brandished weaponry, there are dancing girls, soldiers, priests, citizens, royalty and prisoners of war as the ancient Egyptians celebrate their returning, victorious army, who have just vanquished the Ethiopian invaders (as in ACT II, SCENE 2 of the original libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni – but in LA Opera’s version directed by Francesca Zambello, this colossal triumphal scene takes place at the end of the first act, before the curtain drops to signal intermission).

Spend enough time in America’s biggest little city with over one-thousand Libertarians and you’ll start to understand why Johnny Cash shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. However, that would be a violation of the non-aggression principle –– commonly known as “the NAP” to Libertarians, who will also debate the topic ad nauseam until you’ll want to take one yourself. Every two years, the members of America’s biggest little political party engage in the usual shenanigans that make it the third largest in the nation, albeit a distant third. This year’s convention was held at the notable Nugget Casino Resort and featured divided factions, drama, spirited debates and just plain spirits to decide the party’s future. After all, Libertarians know plenty about nuggets, whether they’re made of gold, weed or chicken.

And another sex scandal pops into the news. This time it’s the Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, cringing in shame upon the recent release of a “bombshell” report detailing two decades of sexual abuse by pastors and other church officials, along with ongoing official coverup of the crimes and denigration of any victims who had the courage to speak up.

“Crisis is too small a word. It is an apocalypse,” one former church official said.