TOM CLARK: Built on sand

Aircraft are attacking Aleppo targeting the city with more than 175 bombs in several attacks during heavy cannon shelling: image via Khaled Khatib @Khaled995, 16 November 2016

Russians and regime resume systematic bombing #Aleppo dozens of martyrs civil defense teams working to lift injured to ambulances: image via Syria Civil Defense @SyriaCivilDef, 16 November 2016

6 killed including 4 children, 5 families are still trapped under rubble after Al Sukari in #Aleppo city was targeted with Airstrikes today: image via The White Helmets @SyriaCivilDef, 16 November 2016

Airstrikes, rocket artillery and barrel bombs targeting civilians in #Aleppo since morning including a school and SCD center. Pics from Fardous: image via The White Helmets @SyriaCivilDef, 16 November 2016

This is how Syrian kids in #Aleppo walked home today after their school and neighborhood was bombed by Russian warplanes: image via HASAN ALMOSSA @hasanalmossa, 16 November 2016

#Syrie: l'aide alimentaire s'épuise à Alep sous les bombes par @KaramAlmasri25: image via Agence France-Presse @afpfr, 16 November 2016

The cat sanctuary in war-torn #Aleppo just got bombed, and they need our help now more than ever: image via The Dodo Verified account @dodo, 16 November 2016

#Iraq A displaced woman waits with her cat for transport in the village of Shaqouli, 35km east of #Mosul. By odd_andersen @AFPphoto: image via Photojournalism @photojournalink, 14 November 2016

A boy plays amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in the rebel-held town of #Douma #Syria @AbdDoumany @AFPphoto: image via SundayTimesPictures @STPictures, 16 November 2016

#Serbia #migrants wait on the road close to the Serbian Croatian border, #Sid #AFP Photo by @iandrej: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 14 November 2016

Un migrante se calza los zapatos en un refugio improvisado situado en un almacén abandonado en Belgrado #Diaenimagenes Por @iandrej #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFPespanol, 16 November 2016

Moving like ghosts #Belgrade #Serbia #migrants #refugee @AFPphoto / @iandrej #AFP: image via Andrej Isakovic @iandrej, 16 November 2016 Belgrade, Republic of Serbia

SERBIA - A migrant sits in front of a makeshift shelter in an abandoned warehouse in Belgrade. By @iandrej #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 November 2016

IRAQ - A woman carrying a handicapped child uses the opportunity to flee during #MosulOffensive #MosulOps #odd_andersen #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 November 2016

US - Workers remove Trump signage after tenants said they did not want their home associated with the president-elect. By @Bryan R. Smith: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 November 2016

US - Workers remove Trump signage after tenants saied they did not want their home associated with the president-elect. By @Bryan R. Smith: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 November 2016

SYRIA - Fighters from a Kurdish-Arab alliance gather on the frontlines in Tuwaylaa just outside the city of Raqa. By @Delilsouleman #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 November 2016

US President Barack Obama arrives at Berlin's Tegel Airport on Air Force One: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 16 November 2016

US President Barack Obama arrives for a speech in #Athens #obamavisit #greece #obama_athens: image via Aris Messinis @ArisMessinis, 16 November 2016 Attiki, Greece

US President Barack Obama delivers a speech in #Athens #obamavisit #greece #obama_athens: image via Aris Messinis @ArisMessinis, 16 November 2016

US President Barack Obama delivers a speech in #Athens #obamavisit #greece #obama_athens: image via Aris Messinis @ArisMessinis, 16 November 2016

US President Barack Obama delivers a speech in #Athens #obamavisit #greece #obama_athens: image via Aris Messinis @ArisMessinis, 16 November 2016

US President Barack #Obama in #athens meets with Greek PM Alexis Tsipras: image via Aris Messinis @ArisMessinis, 15 November 2016 Attiki, Greece

#athens protests during #Obama_athens visit: image via Louisa Gouliamaki @lgouliam, 16 November 2016

Demonstration in #Athens against the #obamavisit in #greece #obama_athens: image via Aris Messinis @ArisMessinis, 16 November 2016 Attiki, Greece

#athens protests during #Obama_athens visit: image via Louisa Gouliamaki @lgouliam, 16 November 2016

GREECE - Greek riot police clash with demonstrators protesting against the visit of the US president in Athens. By @lgouliam #AFP:: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 16 November 2016

Demonstration in #Athens against the #obamavisit in #greece #obama_athens: image via Aris Messinis @ArisMessinis, 16 November 2016 Attiki, Greece

A boy plays amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in the rebel-held town of #Douma #Syria @AbdDoumany @AFPphoto: image via SundayTimesPictures @STPictures, 16 November 2016

The outgoing #US President Barack #Obama: image via Aris Messinis @ArisMessinis, 16 November 2016

Indian laborers handle banana branches at the largest and busiest wholesale fruit market in Calcutta, eastern India, 16 November 2016. Media reports state major wholesalers are facing troubles selling their stock of fresh fruits and vegetables as cash shortages continues to affect the market. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the elimination of the 500 and 1,000 rupee bills (7.37 and 14.73 US dollars, respectively), hours before the measure took effect at midnight 08 November, for the purpose of fighting against 'black money' (hidden assets) and corruption in the country. The decision sparked some protests, while storekeepers complained about dwindling sales because many citizens lack the cash to buy the most basic products, as lines get longer at ATMs and banks. EPA/PIYAL ADHIKARY

Indian laborers handle banana branches at the largest and busiest wholesale fruit market in Calcutta, India: photo by Piyal Adhikary/EPA, 16 November 2016

Indian villagers wait in a queue outside a bank to deposit and exchange 500 and 1000 rupee notes in Chandrapur Village, some 30 kms from Guwahati on November 15, 2016. / AFP / Biju BORO (Photo credit should read BIJU BORO/AFP/Getty Images) *** BEST

Indian villagers wait in a queue outside a bank to deposit and exchange 500 and 1000 rupee notes in Chandrapur Village: photo by Biju Boro/AFP, 16 November 2016

A man places newly made clay pots in a fire pit at a workshop in Biyagama, Sri Lanka November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

A man places newly made clay pots in a fire pit at a workshop in Biyagama, Sri Lanka: photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters, 16 November 2016

NOVEMBER 16: Scottish red deer graze in Glen Etive following the end of the rutting season on Novemebr 16, 2016 in Glen Etive,Scotland. The rutting season sees the large dominant red deer stags compete against each other for mating rights and can be heard roaring and bellowing in an attempt to attract the hinds. The rut draws to a close in early November when the stags spend the winter feeding to regain strength for the following season. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Scottish red deer graze in Glen Etive following the end of the rutting season in Scotland. During the rutting season the large dominant red deer stags compete against each other for mating rights and can be heard roaring and bellowing in an attempt to attract the hinds. The rut draws to a close in early November when the stags spend the winter feeding to regain strength for the following season.: photo by Jeff J Mitchell, 16 November 2016

Scottish red deer graze in Glen Etive following the end of the rutting season in Scotland. During the rutting season the large dominant red deer stags compete against each other for mating rights and can be heard roaring and bellowing in an attempt to attract the hinds. The rut draws to a close in early November when the stags spend the winter feeding to regain strength for the following season.: photo by Jeff J Mitchell, 16 November 2016

A man is battered by a wave as he walks along the seafront in New Brighton, northern England November 16, 2016.

A man is battered by a wave as he walks along the seafront in New Brighton, northern England: photo by Phil Noble/Reuters, 16 November 2016

Bertolt Brecht: Der Lernende (The Learner)

Church near Búðir (Snæfellsnes), Iceland: photo by Till Niermann, 2 August 1989

Der Lernende

Erst baute ich auf Sand, dann baute ich auf Felsen.

Als der Felsen einstürzte

Baute ich auf nichts mehr.

Dann baute ich oftmals wieder

Auf Sand und Felsen, wie es kam, aber

Ich hatte gelernt.

Denen ich den Brief anvertraute

Die warfen ihn weg. Aber die ich nicht beachtete

Brachten ihn mir zurück.

Da habe ich gelernt.

Was ich auftrug, wurde nicht ausgerichtet.

Als ich hinkam, sah ich

Es war falsch gewesen. Das Richtige

War gemacht worden.

Davon habe ich gelernt.

Die Narben schmerzen

In der kalten Zeit.

Aber ich sage oft: nur das Grab

Lehrt mich nichts mehr.

The Learner

First I built on sand, then I built on rock.
When the rock caved in
I no longer built on anything.
Then I often built again
On sand and rock, as it came, but
I had learned.

Those to whom I had entrusted the letter
Threw it away. But those I paid no attention to
Brought it back to me.
Thereby I learned.

What I ordered was not carried out.
When I arrived I saw
It was wrong. The right thing
Had been done.
From that I learned.

The scars are painful
Now it is cold.
But I often said: only the grave
Will have nothing more to teach me.

December frost in Sweden: photo by Sigurdas, 21 December 2007

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956): Der Lernende (The Learner) (c. 1935), translated by Lee Baxendall in Bertolt Brecht: Poems 1913-1956 (1976)

An Indian cyclist passes a mural depicting Catholic nun Mother Teresa, in Bangalore, India, 17 November 2016. Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on 26 August 1910 to Albanian parents in Skopje, Macedonia (FYROM) and died on 05 September 1997 in Calcutta, India. She began her missionary work with the poor in Calcutta in 1948, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Following her death in 1997 she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. EPA/JAGADEESH NV EPA/JAGADEESH NV

An Indian cyclist passes a mural depicting Catholic nun Mother Teresa, in Bangalore, India: photo by Jagadeesh NV/EPA, 17 November 2016

(EDITORS NOTE: Image shot in black and white using a panoramic app on an iPhone 6.) A machine used to dig ISIL tunnels is seen at the Iraqi Army Armoured Ninth Division base on November 13, 2016 in Qaraqosh, Iraq. ISIL took control of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city in June of 2014. For the past two years they have occupied the city. On the 17th of October 2016. Iraqi forces began the Mosul offensive to take back the city. The offensive was a joint effort by Iraqi Government forces, the Peshmerga, local tribal militias and air support from the US and UK military. Despite early progress the offensive has slowed in the past week as Iraqi forces encountered heavy resistance from ISIL fighters entrenched inside the city. The use of an extensive tunnel system under the city built by ISIL over the past two years, booby traps, snipers and roads riddled with IED's has slowed the advance of troops on the ground. As the offensive enters its fourth week, fears of a humanitarian crisis grow as up to 1 million civilians are believed to be trapped inside the city. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

A machine used to dig tunnels for Islamic State is seen at the Iraqi Army Armoured Ninth Division base in Qaraqosh, Iraq: photo by Chris McGrath, 17 November 2016

A ground staff member chases a dog in the field. India vs England in the Second Test cricket match at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium: photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters, 17 November 2016

TOM CLARK

Thursday, 17 November 2016

Built on sand

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