The first thing I saw and heard this morning when I pressed the TV's ON button was an image of a shark and the words "shark attacks."  There have been "upticks" in  the number of such attacks this summer.  The Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of North and South Carolina allegedly seethe with vicious carnivores attracted to increased amounts of other fish to feed on, and above average seawater temperatures.  Rising ocean temperatures, related directly to climate change, should tell anyone who can add two and two that shark attacks closer to beaches are, and will be, increasingly more frequent in years to come.
     Sharks, of course, are in more danger from humanity than humans are from sharks.  Pollution, rising sea temperatures, more and more humans, will ultimately doom sharks as surely as coral reefs are doomed.  Sharks, unlike humans, possess no malice.  They see glittering bracelets on the wrists of swimmers and move to investigate.  It, the swimming vacationer, may not look like a fish, but it looks like food.
     A simple way of never being attacked by a shark is to never go out beyond the surf, keeping sand under your feet.  A woman, interviewed briefly on MSNBC, said she's staying on the beach because of all the shark stories in the news media.  The news corporations' ratings-elevating scare tactic works--be afraid of sharks.
     On this July 4, another recurring news story is law enforcement's readiness to deal with terror attacks on symbolic holidays.  The Department of Homeland Security assures us there are no specific threats, but they're operating on the better-safe-than-sorry side, something we've heard many times this century, accompanied by video showing patrolling cops with robot faces.  I saw a low angle image of black-clad helmeted men in some large American city, carrying automatic rifles and appearing vigilant, or maybe too warm inside their excessive gear.
     Fourteen years ago, shark attacks rose in frequency, like now.  The news media made the phenomenon into a big story, and then on September 11 something happened involving airplanes and symbolic buildings.  Today's cable news features discuss Independence Day celebrations, nuclear talks with Iran, sharks, and terrorists.  Climate change and endless war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, two essential conditions underlying shark and terror attacks respectively, are ignored mostly by news corporations that thrive financially on the fear they help inspire.

                                                                        Vic Neptune