GOOD MORNING - A TAD LATE IN THE POSTING

  Good morning, one and all. Sorry for the delay in posting after a day off but a person has limitations. Over the weekend we celebrated the marriage of one of my granddaughters. It was a beautiful affair. The  enthusiasm, the joy, the celebration of this event was heartwarming and soul fulfilling. It was not an over-the-top wedding where thousands upon thousands of dollars were spent. It was, in fact, a simple wedding but one so graced with all that money cannot buy and that made it in fact and in deed, an over the top wedding.  

A stranger standing unnoticed in the corner observing this beautiful affair would have marveled at the enthusiasm of the dancers, at the roar of the music, at the smiles on faces as they all shared in a communal rite:  the marriage of two young people, willing, even in this time, to unite and continue the chain. To add another link to the links of the chain of the Jewish nation forged by faith in their G-d, in the promises of the Bible and the archeological proof of such, along with a sheer stubbornness enabling them to survive all that a hostile world has thrown at them. 

All the threats and all the swords dangling over their heads, consigned to the dust of time, as this beautiful new couple merged, uniting two strands into a new one. Another moment of joy and   determination, Another toss of the head at the haters. Another in your face to those who would deny the legitimacy of Jewish  people, the promise  of their native and ancient homeland, and the assurance that they will be, even as their tormentors are no longer.

But what about the rest of the world? Why cannot they all, we all, engage in moments of shared celebration, of recognition that beneath and beyond all that distinguishes us one from another, lies the truth. We are, each and every one of us, born with the same dreams and the same needs. These   dreams and needs can be filled together, with the efforts of the individuals creating a synergy such as the world has never seen before. One that will impel the human race, as one, to move forward in the right direction. Then, maybe then, we could actually realize the reality of beating swords into ploughshares and  stop the needless shedding of blood in the name of hate and selfish greed and obscene lust for power and dominion over others. 

We have come close before, edging into this  thought, but we, the world, in one way or another, led by one nation or another, or under the terrible hypnotism of a deranged yet brilliant personality, have a perfect record of destruction of such possibility and gone back, down the road to perdition, To resoaking a land already overflowing with the casualties of the stupidities of mankind. And so, we keep on, embracing all  that is wrong, negating all that we have improved, all in the name of what!!!

Last night, as I joined in the singing and the dancing, as I watched the young faces alight with shared joy, with hopes for the future, I thought maybe, maybe, just maybe, if we could somehow package it all, all that so suffused the air, we could actually take steps forward.

But that was last night and today is another day

Today is a day after several days' separation, whereupon I return to the nastiness of the headlines. The cutting slashes and bites of angry words   meant to hurt and to harm and to raise the temperature of this world to a most  dangerous level. 

Would that we could take the happiness, the positivity, the dreams of yesterday, merge it with the hopes still new and fresh of today, and meld it into a brilliant tomorrow.

Would that we could.

 Maybe we could  -eventually - if we so desire.  

Maybe.

GREAT MINDS

  No, I am not including my mind with the great minds of some people that I wish to emulate today within this posting. So many times, even on ordinary days a certain mindset seems to be in place. The same idea seems to occur to various people at the same time. Simply put, take a look at some of the novels that have been written of late, or the movies, or the tv shows, and you will find that they are similarly themed. Missing teenager from a group of teenagers. Over and over and over again. A husband or wife disappearing and his loved ones find out that he had a secret life - over and over and over again. A person goes on a discovery journey at end of life and turns the life upside-down inside out. Over and over and over again. 

So why not some great minds, excellent writers well known for the quality and relevance of their writing, also visit a similar theme from somewhat differing viewpoints or points of emphasis. Put them together and voila! It says it all, clarifying much of one's own thoughts. Putting it all together from one's own stance makes a beautiful whole in the mind of the reader of these authors.

Of late, and not so late, in fact for quite some time, I have been wondering and marveling at the same time re certain thematic repetitions without satisfactory explanations combined with astonishment as to why no one seems to hit upon them. 

Surely there are others out there besides me who have the same questions, but the answers given are incomplete and way, way unsatisfactory. Personally, I find that many of these "answers” are dumbed down, as if assuming a lack of intelligence on the part of the one who asked questions. Or the answers are only topical, and do not truly delve into the meat of the question that lies right there beneath the surface. Most unsatisfactory, a waste of time and effort. Today, though, the effort was good, proved worthwhile.

So, the first and eternal question asked time and time again. Why the Jews? Why always the Jews? Yes, there are racially biased words and actions directed at some other groups, but it isn't a forever replicating theme within all cultures, even those who have never met a Jew in their lives. The Jewish people, and their indigenous ancient homeland, Israel, are favored targets of vicious vile hatred. These days the very air we breathe is suffused and overcome with chants of hate, of acts of hate and support of murderers. Those of Hamas, Hezbollah, those of Islamic Jihad, those of any terrorist organization that swears to bring about the slaying of Jews, spilling their blood and soaking the land beneath their feet. Their ugliness is rife upon the land. Again, why, always why?

And what do we Jews do? We try to 'understand'. What makes a person walk to such an awful beat. What makes them subscribe to this lust for the blood of Jews, age and gender making no difference. What twisted wiring in their afflicted brains and lack worthy souls has them thinking their plans re the Jewish nation, re the state of Israel are legitimate and praiseworthy?  How is it that media known for quality reporting have turned to the dark side and chase after Israel with a vengeance, refusing to ascertain the truth or falsehood of information. They merely take it and run with it. And if shown their error and they accept it, they publish a redaction in an almost invisible area. 

For example, take this imminent famine and this dire state of starvation. From October 8th, 2023, these claims were bruited about by the liars of Hamas, making good use of these claims for public relations. But also, by other nations, nations of the world who should know better. Behave better. Two days after they invaded another country, Hamas and their criminal, morally bankrupt enablers claim famine rife within their land. This even as the members of Hamas were nice and well fed. No signs of starvation. No sunken eyes, no dark circles, no bones protruding through skin, nearly broken through with the sharp points of those bones. No gaunt living skeletons, only those of their captives, their hostages whom they kidnapped from life and refused to return. 

These imminent famines and gross starvations never took flight for they were false. Were there no foods for feasting - probably, unless one bought in the highway robbery Hamas stores. How have we forgotten the truth of war, that in a nation at war, particularly one which instigated it, rationing occurs, a la Britain and the USA in WWII. No one in those nations, as hungry as they were, claimed starvation and famine. No feast, but also no famine upon the land. 'Merely' a war they supported and cheered in the streets as the hostages, dead and alive, clothed and naked, were paraded through their crowded streets. Held within their homes and in the godforsaken tunnels beneath their homes, to which they provided ingress and egress.

 A famine of humanity, yes, food perhaps not as plentiful, but who asked for this war? Whose skeletonized bodies are held out without shame to the world at large? Where are useful and actual and effective offended voices of the 'civilized' nations of the world? Nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. As usual.

It is not upon us to "understand” the depraved behavior of Jew haters. It is not upon us to explain to them what makes them tick, what makes their ticks go wrong. It is upon them to understand how wrong they are, how egregiously wrong, sinful, offensive they are. That time is over. 

Well past time for us to stand in defense against those who hate us, those who attack us and wish only to harm us to the point of death. Not 'only' individuals, but the nation as a whole

No, no more understanding. No more education hoping to detain the beasts. No more foul memories of yesterday. No more ugliness of the todays we live. No tomorrows tainted and stained with Jewish blood. 

 No, we will stand tall and proud and determined. If you insist upon attacking us, questioning our legitimacy to life we will prove you wrong. Manner and method of which will certainly make a deeper impression upon you. You hate us for defending ourselves, for not dying in numbers satisfactory to you. Too bad. No more pathetic useless efforts to 'explain' to you where you have gone wrong nor to 'understand' your nasty quirks. 

So deal with it.

 Time is up.

There is much more on this topic, but I will not be able to post until Monday due to a family celebration.

See you then.

Will you be one of the great minds?

WHAT'S HAPPENING?

  I cannot remember which character in which sitcom of the day used this phrase so much so that it became a national mantra. But in its moments of comedy was more than a laugh or two or a snickering cynicism. Present in abundance was confusion and serious kernels of truth, including those of fear and a deep desire to more along, to fix all that was wrong, but no one knew exactly how to proceed with that goal in mind, with the ability to indeed remedy that which was indeed happening.   

 It is difficult to find a more apt phrase to describe the angst of the times. Overriding all are the existential questions as to what exactly is happening. What has happened to us? What has soured the growing recognition that no matter where we are, who we are, where we come from and where we are going, we all inevitably will share the same fate. Those butterfly wings waggling in the wind on one side of the globe will invariably, inevitably, cause a shift in winds on the other side. 

At some time, perhaps so gradually that we did not notice, we began to move apart, to separate ourselves from the "others" whomever they might be at that moment in time. Instead of combing the world for similarities, for shared viewpoints and dreams, we began to place all energies and 'creative' thinking into the wrong trucks and cars, with drivers opposed to care and concern for others on the same roads. These vehicles brought increasing moments of war and hate to the fore and there seemed no end in sight. In fact, all has gone downhill at ever increasing pace and level of seriousness and alarm. 

But do we take note and act to halt this downward slide of no brakes, promising naught but woes ahead? The answer is a resounding no. Even should one try, the calls to act, to see the truth, to address the needs are turned aside and the calls to ramp up the negativity are rife and internalized with an enthusiasm frightening to witness. Horrifying in understanding as to inevitable end destination.  

  The cracks within the globe and its inhabitants became and continue to become ever more evident, more glaring. The blindness grows and intensifies. The only changes from week to week, from day to day are the terrifying moments of realization that we are on a downward spiral which allows for no return to sanity, no shared dreams, merely antagonism and hatred intensified and internalized, growing strong, deep roots within the psyche of mankind, and its toxicity overcomes all.

How else to explain, if that, why a president should indulge in histrionics more befitting a toddler on a tantrum rampage? How else to explain the venom with which we approach each other, the worst thoughts in mind, with resignation to failure from the get-go. Why is it that the worse one's deeds are, the better the reward. With immense unmeasurable cruelty deliberately starve your own, use them as tools of publicity. 

Kidnap, kill and deliberately torment, torture, starve to death young men once vital with hope for their lives. Kill Jews and get their homeland as reward.  Learn quickly that the bigger the lie, the quicker and deeper it is believed. Claim a child suffering from cerebral palsy is dying via Israeli induced starvation. Correct that untruth on page quad zillion, to be ignored. Use the same young man as a child of two separate events and as a young woman in yet another staged photo op, supposedly proof of a raging famine. The lies persist even as the truth crumbles and lies alongside, in ditches, forgotten and despised.

Why do the qualities and characters of leaders of nations seem to decline with every hour in office. The greed, to enhance their power and wealth, to lord it over all others is sickening, frightening to the nth degree. If we cannot discern the good from the bad and persist in following bellowing crowds shorn of sanity, then where do we go next? To whom, to where, can we turn for aid and advice? 

How do we deal with the world intent on beating each other over the head with brutal tariffs and re invigorated trade wars. All allowing no good for any. The exercising of brute power over the weaker. 

To whom do we turn when the leaders of the nation turn upon the poor, those needful of aid. The challenged child. The anxious parents seeking only to keep roofs over their heads and food on the table. To raise their children with the hopes of a better future. What do we do when science is denied, when facts are twisted and perverted so that recognition is at zero point. To whom exactly do we address our concerns? How? How do we make ourselves heard and seen?  

Where do we go, what do we do, when those who work with sincere effort to fulfill responsibilities are then discharged from their positions, deemed as "disloyal" to the increasingly authoritarian leader.   Deemed as points of peril to the demented, crazed, with need for power and wealth ostensible leader of the nation.   

How do we indeed discourage the despair within our souls. How can we find the knowledge, the understanding as to what is happening. How to turn it around, shunt all onto another track perhaps a bit more difficult at the onset but with long term benefits so much better for a positive future for humanity, for any future at all. Might we yet be able to replace the ugliness with the virtues of yesterday?  Can we find a way to improve our todays, and soon, very soon?  Can we actually contemplate a better tomorrow for us all?    

Beats me.

 At times I remain hopeful. At times I laugh with a bitter undertone. Can we pull ourselves out of this quicksand, this morass of our own making?   

These are not questions for debating, but for the doing.  These are existential worries, ones that demand immediate and correct attentions if we are not to totally lose our way with hints as to return possibilities.

Look around. See the truth. Peer deep within your   souls, be honest, evaluate truly. Then ask yourself. Are you satisfied? Are you confident of a good future for you, yours, the world? If not, what can we do to ameliorate the situation, turn the troubles back on themselves and clear a pathway for humanity on which to go forward?

These are questions - and answers- which are applicable to all, necessary for all to ask and answer. We are, not a one of us, totally innocent -nor totally beyond redemption, but we must want, truly, deeply, need, to change. Anything less is useless.

Are we up to that?

Are you?

Am I?

Time will tell, will it not?

 I hope it is via a timepiece we can trust. 

STRANGE PARTNERS

  It is not very often that I agree with Thomas Friedman, an eminent opinion writer for The New York Times and an author in his own right. I can accept that he is a Zionist of sorts, that he loves Israel in his own way and manner of thought. However, I most definitely cannot stand in sync with most of his writing re Israel. He, like many American Jews have not known what it means to live under threat and challenge to the right to live and prosper. 

From within this ignorance, and I believe not meaning harm, though that is the inevitable end   consequence of most of their propositions if they would follow the thread of their thoughts, they would understand exactly what they are proposing. They impose standards onto Israel which are eminently impossible to attain. When Israel fails to meet those standards not demanded of any other nation, they are chastised in public by hypercritical fellow Jews, opening the field up for others to join in the fray.  

They opened Israel up to the slings and arrows of the world. This is a world which never passes up an opportunity to demonize Israel, to criticize Israel. To point out all its flaws. And demand perfection.  Never.  Israel perforce then becomes the chosen pariah of the world, called upon the carpet to explain why it has failed in its promise, why it has forgotten its inherent morality. In fact, it has become as the other nations in the world even as it actually strives to meet those demands maintaining higher standards. Their efforts to do so are ignored or played down, ever rising demands put in place.  

In fact, trying to meet those imposed standards is futile. Certainly not worthwhile in anticipation of any positive outcome. Held up as a nation which has failed in its promise, has forgotten morality, it becomes prime target for the rest of the world. Used as a tool of deflection from the woes of reality, the world rejoiced in its luck, even as it ignores the avowed hatred and goal of total extermination of all Jews certainly from the ancient homeland and if possible, to the rest of world Jewry.

Such desires have been chanted, shouted, etched in the blood of Israelis sacrificed upon this altar. The world, instead of taking them to task has begun to accept, even approve of those bloodthirsty chants.  Violent behavior is excused, even denied or praised. Losers in this conflict demand the wreaths of victory. Openly contrary to international law, they kidnapped civilians, children and infants, held them for almost two years and are literally starving them to death. Not "imminent". Not almost, not in two weeks or two months - but now, yet again the world stands silent and still, unseeing, uncaring.   Forced to dig their own graves. 

All the while the members of Hamas, and yes, most of the population upstairs are not starving. In fact, what they are doing is using this constant reiteration of famine and starvation imminent as a weapon of war. As these happily smug fools fall in line. Bow in belief of these lies.  As the world sits quietly by, denying the proof of their eyes in the skeletal frame of a hostage, forced to dig his own grave. 

All the while complaints grow, and Thomas Friedman and ilk buy into it. The enemies of Israel are empowered. Gleeful in their success in these public relations victories, they demand more concessions, more promises. So excited that they can fool the world for so long. Free to shout bloody words of hate and even act upon them.  All the while the complaints grow. The demands grow and the despair of the Jewish people grows exponentially. 

 Now for the title. Who are these strange partners? These strange partners are Thomas Friedman and the writer of this blog. I obviously have no truck with Friedman's beliefs and statements re Israel and what must be done. I believe his statements are so dangerous to the survival of Israel, that he should be muzzled. But he will not be so, for this is America, and we are entitled to the right of free speech. Unfortunately, he and I both agree that if something is not done, very quickly, sincerely. deeply, this nation of ours, in this case America, will no longer be what she is supposed to be. Still remains in some places but dwindling fast. When the president shouts that he will take over this office and that office and this city and that city. This country. When laws are being flouted openly and even cheered for in that act. This country is shattering into small pieces unable to be rejoined together as a whole. Lawyers brazenly lie before the judges. The Department of Justice is exactly not that. The Supreme Court is totally compromised. The legislative branch is populated with cowards and toadies. People of such low self-esteem, they stand there and smile as they are insulted by their lord and master, the crude demented tormented of soul Trump.

Present day America is now riven. Veins of chaos.   Overridden by hate. All the harm that he does and has inflicted upon us. We have forgotten what America is supposed to be. We have become blind. Ever more blind to what she is becoming. If we remain in total denial to the truth of what is and what will be, a replacement of our noble nation by a misspent authoritarian government. what will be? If we continue on in this vein, slowly, not so slowly, we are becoming ever more an authoritarian nation.

Thomas Friedman does not want this to be. His warnings here are absolutely on the dot, right on target. And here I become a strange partner, for in this I totally agree. For this, I have been warning about for months. Actually, from the first appearance of Trump on national platform. Because he has become the President for a second term. This traitor. Unbelievable.  It has taken that long for the people of this nation to understand what they have allowed. As the prices go up, as their factories and stores close, as their clothes become unaffordable. As we no longer can eat nutritious food or even afford to buy it. As we shiver in cold homes due to the unaffordability of heating fuel. And as we desert our allies, blackmail the nations of the world and   then think that should we be in trouble they will come to our aid!!!

No, absolutely not. We have shattered all the positives of our yesterdays.  We are certainly continuing on in that self-destructive manner in our todays. Even as we are increasing the toxicity of our tomorrows. Shutting doors and windows behind us with fewer and fewer ahead of us.    

PIECES OF THE SAME PIE

 Recently several readers of the blog have posed a question to me. The gist of it was this. Why bother writing, condemning, and warning re the ugly, awful and dangerous behavior and philosophy of Trump. The reasoning is something like this. The world is exploding with toxic hatred, with supposed protests breaking all rules and boundaries and morphing into mindless ravaging mobs intent only on vandalism and violence, grave threats to the fabric of life as it should be. Champions of the Jewish cause are few and far between and becoming even more so as the days go on. 

Hence the question. Why am I wasting time speaking or writing about Trump in negative manner when it seems to be that he is on our side, taking up the fight, waging war upon universities refusing to come to terms re their own innate and inherent antisemitism and twisted faculty rosters. Now he is pushing via threats to withhold disaster funds from cities and states which do not ban BDE. A good man, certainly, and not to forget that he took up the cudgels against our enemies, even flying a mission together, resupplying necessary arms and ammunition to continue our existential battle against the murderers of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and other 'friendly' folks. So why criticize him? Why look a gift horse in the mouth?       

   I am not a prophet, nor can I see through the skin and bones of a person to inner mind and thoughts. In fact, at times I have enough trouble deciphering my own mind and thought. However, what I can do is assess what I see and extrapolate from there a more finished evaluation, a more complete viewpoint. Whether there are those who disagree with my findings and theories is not the crux of the matter.  It is my right to free speech. My right to speak my mind. Others are free to disagree and dispute. What is not allowed is the suppression and repression of that right. As long as my speech does not encourage violence nor treason, disagree all one wants. That is the lifeline of this nation, for out of dissent with current thoughts came the momentum of improvement and social progress. 

With all that being said, my viewpoint of Trump is unchanged. He is a deep dangerous bubbling. source of peril for the survival of this nation as it was founded to be. A democratic nation. A nation welcoming all to its shores who wish to join with us and build that dream to reality. A nation which stood as a role model, a leader for other nations. A nation which confessed its errors and worked to make it better. But that is the case no longer. 

A rot has developed within this embattled land of ours. It is a rot dripping from the top, merging with the growth of rot from the bottom, meeting in the body of state, consuming it from within. It is an evil synergy suppressive of the right of dissent and challenge. The demand for truth is considered as treason, certainly a case of disloyalty to the President. It is a rot of the soul allowing the president to turn his responsibilities upside down. Instead of protecting his nation he becomes the most formidable opponent of it.

It is an evil via which this President Trump has grasped upon the powers of the two other branches of government and keeps them within his hidebound soul. He goes gung-ho against all protections meant for the people, be it via climate or emergency funds. Or educational funds, cultural funds. Medical care, you name it. His interfering fingers have been in all pots and pans. This president says he is above the law. He cannot be held to any standard, cannot be expected to obey laws, cannot be punished for violating laws. Then where do we, the people, stand? Nowhere, in fact. Or even less than that.

Where do we stand? In a land of confusion and darkness. When the president echoes authoritarianism in his peremptory firings of those who disagree with him, of those who dare to speak the truth. When he interferes with the separation between civilian and military, between church and state. When he rants and raves and goes wildly off track. When he projects political distorted. missions and views. When he makes wild and outrageous statements and demands that others believe.              Well, where are we, the people? We are nowhere. Rather, we are in a place of imminent danger.

I cannot trust a word of this man. Nor should any of us. How many times has he turned on a dime, turned upon the once most favored person. How long will it take for people to understand exactly what has happened with antisemitism in the universities. Money. It was his target and goal in the first place and last place, in all places in between. He sold everyone out. The universities bought him off, got them off and got him off their back. What was the big solution to combat antisemitism? Beats me. A promise of yet another committee that doesn't work. Another promise to watch for it. Those promises were there already, and there has been no change other than to ramp up and make much more visual a hatred for Jews which continues to plague the people of this world. A hatred which now has yet another platform on which to parade its ugliness. Without the Jews in our midst, we would not be having this problem. We would be free to move along in our path. But no longer. The mantra of the day. So, add up the total in this case. Seems we are in the negative, in the red.

Now we have this new wrinkle. All funds of emergency preparation, of search and rescue, of advance planning against disasters, natural and manmade, a combination of such, are to be held out according to whether Trump feels they have rejected BDE or not. That is a wonderful, wonderful goal. Would that he seriously meant it. But he does not. For this man thinks only in terms of dollar bills. This is what he sees at night when he sleeps. Unless his dreams are that he is back at the parties of Epstein. 

This man always has money at the end, at the beginning and in the middle of all that he thinks and acts.    He is now conflating in the mind of the public the topics of Jews and money. Long an ancient meme and trope of hate. The desolation and death left behind by disasters will now be blamed upon the Jews, for if not for them, the money would have been there.  Great, Donny, just great. 

This is a man of no honor. This is a man who sails on dirty seas. This is a huckster who sells the dignity of the Oval Office for the purchase of a gold-plated Bible. Or hat. Or coin. Or a t-shirt. This is a man who has sullied his office. The sad thing is, I don't know if we have understood that fact and how deeply we have been immersed in this pool of filth and greed. Altruism notably lacking. So, add this all up again. We are doubling the negative.

So, is this man a friend of the Jews? At this point. he's been better than most. But make no mistake about it. He is equally as fickle, perhaps more so, as other leaders of other nations in the world who have turned against Israel. So easily, so traditional. He is a man who values money. Nothing more, nothing less. This is a man with demented and skewed mental viewpoint and behavior. A narcissism beyond any conceptual understanding.  His thoughts are consumed with how he can improve his place of power. Who is doing him wrong? And who is falling in line? And how we can avenge those who challenge him. We are becoming a nation where loyalty to the nation, to the people, to the precepts of the Constitution, to the Founding Fathers has become discarded for loyalty to the Man. To Trump. To his authoritarian ambitions.     Loyalty. Utter and complete, and only loyalty to the betterment of President Trump. 

 Decide what you will. But I have heard no word of condemnation and outrage re the starving new Holocaust victims held and staved by well-fed Hamas captors.  Even the hypocritical UN, WHO, and International Red Cross have spoken up, not that I expect anything to happen as a result. But all I have heard from him, is that there is hunger in Gaza. Evidently the NYT also goes along, refusing to have a picture of these starving young men, taken hostage 2 years ago at the ages of 19 and 22. Where is the might of the world in any meaningful manner. Where is the plan, a demanded release of these two young men and the others remaining with them. Where is the Wall Street Journal supposedly supportive of Israel, for there too there was no picture of these young men. 

 No, trust not Trump. Think not that his motives are pure and permanent. Thinking that way lies danger. We are to seek allies. Those of truth. But trust lies only within us, our history and our faith. We must do the best we can, determine our own path. and welcome those who support the truth. Who share thoughts and brotherhood and humanity. We must beware those of ambition, especially in politics, whose views and opinions shift with the direction of the wind.   

Yesterday, today and tomorrow. The same horror. The same ugliness. Yet we remain here. Bolstered by our faith and trust in the Lord. We will muddle through, as always, albeit rough times can arise. 

Yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Does it ever change? 

 All are pieces of the same rotting pie. The pie has been left too unattended for too long. And it's now moldy. Reeking of nasty odors. And those who taste of it are infected.  No, unfortunately I do not trust Trump. In fact. I'm not sure of the loyalty of anyone on the face of this earth, even within our own.    Who can be trusted at this point in time? To do what is right for the right reason. With altruistic manner and thought. If you have one, please, send the name to me. 

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. 

Sigh.         

 

GOOD MORNING

  No, actually it is not such a good one. Not such a good one. Now, with the news one is reading, with the news one is hearing, and certainly not with a vision of a president who was looking outwardly sicker by the day, where is the good wished with the greeting of the title. Worse, with his mutterings and his promptings and his falsehoods that he wishes to force upon everyone, as he cuts down all who oppose him, where, again, is the good? 

Additionally. I cannot erase from my mind, from my eyes the vision of those two young men subjected to Holocaust conditions, literally. In the tunnels beneath Gaza. In the tunnels housing the terrorists who continue to fight. Who continue to raise havoc, deliberately starving not only these two young men, but others who remain alive, the few who remain alive. If what they are living can be called a life. How is it that today, so many years, so many decades after the Holocaust, we still have people - Jews - in these conditions. With plans to do the same, should they actually force the world to fall to its knees, give in to their crazed demands. Even as the world begins to justify their horrible October Seven massacre, and to excuse all that followed as the fault of Israel rather than those of the instigator. It negates all rules and regulations. It negates all common sense.

Yes. One does not fight civilians unless civilians are pushed in the way. One must fight a war where a war is, not where one would wish the war to be. Combatants, wherever they are, however they present themselves, and certainly if they use civilians as a tool of defense and offense, the civilians will suffer - the fault of their own masters. The people defending their right to live, in this case, the Israelis, must deal with the horror, of the anger and sorrow felt when they are forced to kill to defend themselves. 

Israel does not want war. Israel's songs are not of combat and blood. They sing of peace; they sing of friendship. They sing with sadness and sorrow. They sing with regret, but they do not sing with violent wishes and tendencies. All they want is to be home and to bring home all those who are denied that simple privilege.

I find this morning very difficult to write anything. I must sift over everything. From the past few weeks. Years even. And what is becoming more and more evident in this world - a literal danger to me and mine. A literal danger to both my countries, here and Israel. A literal danger to all the nations of the world as they fall down like dominoes before Hamas. As they recognize a state that isn't anywhere, a state that never was and never should be. A state that has no boundaries. A state that has no infrastructure. A state that fights within itself. The terrorist fighting another terrorist. With clans organizing gangs. Just chaos. The chaos which the Bible spoke when the world was first in the total chaos. 

Perhaps we are missing the clues that God is sending us. That we are indeed and in fact sending ourselves, I don't know. But today though, I wish you all a good morning and a good day. I do not think it is. Perhaps on the Morrow? Maybe. But for today? Today I am done with the writing.

Yesterday was a terrible day. Today is yet to play out before us, though optimism is not in plentiful supply. As for tomorrow? We will see.

THERE GOES THE FAN!!

  Well, good morning to you all. And welcome to the bizarro world of an American president, blatantly, openly, intensely, demented and autocratic in mind, manner and ambition. Welcome to an America which has turned it all around and begun to consume itself in the throes of obeying and cheering on the weirdest and most dangerous words and deeds of a man devoted to destroying the very basis and persona of a nation. A nation which should be planning the celebration of its 250th birthday, but it is more likely than not that we will be burying it instead. 

All due to the evil intentions and accomplishments of an evil man, yes, evil, who has managed to ensnare many, shut down the thinking processes of even more and waged a war of feverish demented terror and threats on those who need that extra push to join forces, coopted or convinced or terrorized into taking that last giant step into the wrong side of history. Choose your mantra, but this nation has either reached new depths of depravity and self-destruction or scaled the highest peaks to ensure that this nation does its worst to itself until final destruction. 

We, the nation, this once proud and stalwart country has turned its back on all that it was and was meant to become. Once we fought valiantly and valorously to always seek the road to improvement. Yes, we strayed many times, even took backward steps, but there is no denying the truth of history. We set the pace for the nations of the world, used our power to bring others to follow us and the world was, should have been, all the better for that influence, for that final push forward. 

Somehow, things changed, rapidly and catastrophically and the world is now returned to a world of competition beyond acceptable levels, defying any sense within its structure and goals.  We have returned to the world of the Middle Ages and Renaissance and beyond where nations jockeyed insanely for position and alliances were flimsy and wildly negated as nations enwrapped themselves in madness resulting only in war after war, declared or not, and hard times for the population. 

Nothing was ever resolved other than thru violence until some people came to their senses and realized the necessity of cooperation and compromise. Competition on an acceptable level, a cooperation allowing for growth of a country, for its population to dream and achieve those dreams, to raise families and provide for the necessities of life. It was not perfect, but it worked for the most part.  Those parts needful of attention received it albeit at times too late, too slow or simply not sufficiently enough, at inadequate pace, but progress was made. Until now.

We the people of America, the standard bearers for the world, have fallen down on the job. Denied its responsibility. Forsworn its place in history. Denied all that has made it great. All that has enabled the dreams of many to become reality. A nation where dissent was accepted, even expected. Via discourse, at times rough, even turning violent, to step forward and take the world with it. Generally, with errors, we used our might and influence to drag the reluctant along with us. We made many, many errors of judgment but we did try. No longer is such the case.  

Somehow, our core turned rotten as we turned our backs on all that we were, the proud standard bearer for the world, for a land where immigrants built the land, where we recognized ourselves in them, and welcomed them as they contributed new energies and ideas to the gestalt of America. It was a pattern that worked. Not perfectly. But progress was made. Until for some reason we bought into the wrong marketplace. We denied our ethos. We denied entrance. We became selfish guardians of all that should not be. Old memes and tropes of hate, of points of division became the lingua franca of the day. We buried true patriotism beneath obfuscation of hate revived. Ugly falsehoods regenerated. Woes of the Old World reenacted on the soil of the New World, ever so destructive of the soul of that new world. We ignored early signs of rot, twists and turns, reimaginations and reconfigurations of the harmful and hurtful.

 Suddenly, we became different nations. Suddenly there arose a world we had thought long gone. Where merchandising, international corporations and profit taking, became the driving motivations and true patriotism was subsumed beneath them, even as we shouted ever louder to conceal that truth. Even as 'patriotism' became ugly and exclusive, rather than inclusive, denying its benefits to others, denying that all nations need new ideas and energies if they are to remain viable.

 The further we strayed from true patriotism, the louder raucous voices were raised in attempts, too successful, to deny true patriotism. To replace it with an ugliness we once had thought, erroneously so, had been extinguished.  And yet, there it was, there it is, and seemingly there it will always be. Unless we do a major house cleaning, a spring cleaning of all that should be discarded. A reinstatement, a reinvigorating replacement with the proper, the moral, the hopeful. The true foundations of our nation and of a better world.

Unfortunately, it appears that we have now taken a final inevitable step into the worst of worlds. Not only have we bought into the gross falsehoods presented to us, but we have also taken that step, most bitter, harmful, into a world where hope regresses and despair makes inroads to the very psyche of the nation. How? By choosing to follow the wrong leaders. By buying into their lies and grandiose promises of improvements for all. Even as those "improvements” both incur and cause great damage to the fabric of life as it should be. As we once aspired to achieve for all.  America has descended into a world of war. For the soul of Ameria. For its future. For the future of the world. Deny it some might. But. The truth is there.

Our chosen leader is demented, grossly mentally and emotionally challenged. If he strays by two words from the prepared speech he is to give, he immediately descends into madness. Irrational in his statements. So erroneous. so harmful. Where did we as a nation go wrong? Where is there in fact anywhere to assign blame. Or is it that we all share in the blame for this situation. He is a man with clear dementia, more so than any other president who suffered from the same issue. And yet denied it is. Why? How have we fallen so low that we perforce buy into all. It is so wrong. So oppositional to all that we believe, all that America stands for, all that Americans should be and want to be. As we welcome others to be, along with us. 

But no. We allow no welcome. Instead, we welcome into our homes that prissy pursed mouth    spewing forth words of hate and egregious lies. Always pounding nails into the fabric of our nation so as to shred it and enhance the ease of achieving his total victory. An autocratic nation ruled by a dictator. A society riven by anger. Driven by despair. A nation which has taken all the good of yesterday and trashed it. A nation that has ruined its todays. A nation which bases its tomorrows in trembling, unsure, uncertain lands providing no firm foundations. Hope is at a premium. If it can be found.

If we do not turn aside from the words of hate spewed forth by Trump, from support of lies of his underlings, from the cowardice of his toadies, we will be signing our own death warrants. We are well underway on that road. It is up to us to open ears and eyes and minds and hearts and souls. See what is real and what is not. 

I am not a particular fan of Rosie O'Donnell, disagreeing in many political areas, but she has had the courage to speak up on the truth of Trump. Too many have not. Her recent words on the lack of sanity of this man and the responsibilities of all Americans, their right and their duty, to speak up in opposition ring very true, very urgent. Disagreement is fine, but repression is not. Yet there is where we are heading, well on our way. Unless we act quickly, end his gross ambition to usurp all reins of governing of this once America, we will reap all the poisonous harvests he has planted within the heart of this nation.   

 "I think Americans should stand up and say, 'No way. You’re not going to silence us. You don’t have the right to silence us. You never did. And you never will. We, the people, have the right to speak up against atrocities, which are happening on a daily basis.'" "ICE, his own personal Gestapo — what will it take, America? What will it take? He's gonna arrest every artist that disagrees with him"

 When will we Americans realize that. We have still the remaining legal manner in which to protect this nation of ours. Will it be too late? Is it already so? The chain of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Always linked together. We had better pay attention or the chain will be broken in a manner most unfortunate for us, the world in general, and certainly for America. 

FROM HENCE, WHENCE?

 Americans are goal oriented. "Are we there yet?" is the most frequently asked - and perhaps never truly answered. A yes or no is definitely a wrong answer, for either one leads to further questions until finally, tongue trips one too many times and the storm bursts forth. Why? Why not? When? How long? Are we lost? Will we ever get there? A veritable storm of questions with no good answers. Nothing short of a grand arrival will settle the dust - but only till the next chapter's opening page.

What now? Where are we going to stay, sit, stand, roll over, play frisbee - whatever strikes one's interests and concerns and trust me, the supply of questions is endless, just as one can be assured that not one answer is/will be capable of damming the flow of questions asked with no satisfactory answer in sight.  Whatever question meets the concern of "from hence, whence? meets the criteria of acceptable questioning, especially any question which serves to further agitate the already frayed nerve endings of parents foolish enough to think they had the perfect day trip planned for their kids.

 Nope, give it up. Try, but understand that there are acts that are futile. From the get-go. Simply pack a good sense of humor and a barrelful of patience along with the food and money - plenty of that. Apparently, every hat and ridiculous overpriced item has a magnetic appeal to kids on day trips. That these items will be discarded as soon as the hence whence question is answered - at least for the moment. 

Nor should you count on the most frantically antsy   president to abjure his tariffs placed on these "essential" items flooding the stands of America. Pay through the nose you will, and you had better vocally term it a "great deal!". Yes, the spirit of America is upon us, like it or not. The mantra of selling and vending, of buying and trashing, the life blood of this nation is alive and well, at least in Trumpland. The place where magic takes place. Where the average American dad is content to bribe his whiny kids and for a split nanosecond, be the very best dad ever. 

The parents will nod and smirk, thinking how clever they were to have agreed on all the plans, from A to Z, and actually have a great day in the sun and bring home sleepy kids with smiles on their faces - for at least one whole minute. Treasure that moment, for at that point begins the question-and-answer session for the next fun day in the sun. Grin and bear it. It is the best time of parenting, the source of all shined up memories to be dragged out at just the right embarrassing moment.  Then you can smirk! 

Patience is always rewarded, is it not. How sweet it is. This scenario never ends, is played over and over and over again. In fact, it is the very epitome   of the school of thought which advances this fact. That revenge taken cold is the best revenge of all. Just think ahead. 10, 20 years down the road. When the not so little kids of yours will be involved as the adults. Similar scenario. See them sweat. See them roll their eyes. "We weren't that way. Were we?” 

They certainly were. They certainly are. And thusly we will continue. It is good that there are times in life when we know exactly what is going to happen. We can rest assured of that certainty. The problem is when the adults behave as children. Throw tantrums worthy of an Oscar. And then shrug their shoulders in confusion, unable to understand why their parents are upset even as their laughter is plentiful at the same time. Parents! Kids! Are we there yet?  

However, there are times when adults act as children with far greater impact than the standard scenario. It is when we go hence from whence and somewhere along the road forget the rules of the game. Or knowingly discard them. Then the game is no longer a game. Suddenly all involved are forced to assume grown up rules of thought and behavior and step up to save the day. Unfortunately, that is not always the case, is it? The hence from whence is obscured, each forward step reined in by confusion and uncertainty, with the elephant in the room question remaining unanswered. 

"Are we there yet?" 

"Nope."

"When?"  

" Do not know. Soon. Maybe."  

That 'maybe' is the answer to our questions, the ones adults ask of their leaders. Where are we headed? What is there? Do we have to? What about problems arising? Are we, you, prepared? The answer to that last question is generally an impatient yes, and a wave of the hand. Truthfully though the answer should be a resounding no, as unfortunately, most adults, wannabe leaders almost never follow the threads to the conclusion, and their plans are highly compromised and useless, or worse -dangerous in outcome. Hence the whence is imperiled. All the while the responsibility is sloughed off to another's shoulders. The buck was passed as were the demands, the decisions, as were the consequences.

Meanwhile, the truth is out there for all to see. The most arrogant leader can only keep those powers we grant to him, cede to him, via thoughtless acts or cowering in fear. If we do so, it results in a compromised White House whose dignity is trashed.  So, we have enabled, so we have done. Even as the most outrageous decisions and statements continue to emerge from the trashed White House.

 A bleary, disgraced fat man. With pursed prissy mouth. Hides unsuccessfully behind a column from reporters and tells them to shut up. Forced to answer. His answers have nothing to do with the questions asked. And he retreats. Calling out as usual, for the reporters to shut up. But it is we who have shut up. It is we who have given him free passes. And shame on us. 

     Bove?! Israel. Cowering Senate and House. Compromised Supreme Court and judiciary system. Militarizing the government.   Demeaning the dignity of the White House. Ripping out the Rose Garden. Placing in its stead an ugly cement patch. Just perfect for eating lunches if you are at an amusement park. Practitioner of the art of blackmail. Sexually questionable in behavior. 

And more, so much more. 

Will we ever wake up and understand what we have allowed?

Are we there yet?

Have we reached the whence from hence.  

Do we have enough of yesterday and today to fix tomorrow?

Hmmm 

DARK DAYS AHEAD?

  Thus spoke the Foreign Minister of France upon hearing of the signing of the trade agreement between the EU and America. "It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples gathered to affirm their values and defend their interest, resolves to submit."

This occurs when international governmental relations are governed via blackmail, by threats inimical to survival of the idea of equality between nations. It rather becomes a status quo of domination and false merriment, of hugs with hands holding knives behind the other participant in that hug. It resolves in a cesspool of dishonesty, greed, and entitlement. It never has worked out in long time effect in positive manner, not for dominator nor for the dominated.

Its manifest unfairness, its aura of ominous predictions and consequences remain at all-time highs, nothing settled, nothing assured, nothing upon which to rely and rebuild. Nothing. All that results is rife with anger and unhappiness, of "being cheated", of succumbing to pressures unfair and unreasonable. This is a world of dissatisfaction so strong it can literally be palpated, sensed, touched, resented, and all are encouraged into free throwing contests, of airing dirty laundry to the eyes of the world, of situations of demands of sympathy and partisanship which effectively block off the road for any forward movement. The false bleating of wolves hiding beneath fake robes of fur already filthy with blood of their previous victims, fooled those willing to be fooled, and the carnage remains, maintains, and even grows, victims seemingly always at the ready. 

How to combat these horrendous times? How and where do we find a champion, not perfect, for no person is such, to lead, to stand with courage and persistence, to know, to recognize the enemy and wage successful campaigns against one and all of them, no matter who they are or what words of threat and intimidation emerge from their twisted tongues and mouths. No matter how frightening they are, no matter the corruption of their souls. No matter the petrified state of their hearts. 

 Unfortunately, these leaders are few and far between. Even when found, are unwilling to be the head of such defense of humanity, or even to uncover others willing to stand with them. Todays' environments, politically, spiritually, any which way, are corrupted, cracking, fraying, at the seams. Tailors of talent and honor, of courage and persistence, of resistance to threats and with clear vision of true realities and necessities are scarce upon the face of our earth.

The leaders of today are so clearly not what we need; in fact, are the very opposite of such. They are the very antithesis of what we need. Even when a positive act or result is achieved, it is immediately countered, negated, with yet another betrayal, another passage replete with false words and values tainted, and of trust - not even on the closest radar. The very simple and natural act of picking up a paper or magazine, of tv broadcasts, are often avoided these days due to their quite partisan stands. Instead of neutrality, the facts, we are presented with skewed viewpoints and the demeaning of those who differ in thought and policy. Goals and aims are written in stone, impossible to mesh with others, to find points of righteous compromise. Harbingers of hope are scarce, growing scarcer day by day.  

What hope is there remaining on the plate when the elite, the powerful, those able to withstand pressures better and longer than the average citizen are instead jumping on the ugly bandwagons of hate, of ugly compromises shorn of honor, of acquiescing to all the wrongs perpetrated on the populations of this challenged world of ours.

 When one can state that the leader, in this case, the President of the USA, is not to be trusted, whose words of promise are false from the get-go, what models are we presenting to the future generations. They will, soon enough, step into our shoes, walk the same paths we have mistakenly trod. We will have failed to honor the proper precepts of the past and instead will emulate the decidedly opposite of such. We will perforce champion the wrongs of today, the moral vacuum, and thus, will betray the possibilities of the tomorrows, the future. 

Instead of pointing fingers of shame and disdain at eminently negative and greedy behaviors, we praise those 'clever' enough to have done so with success. The discovery of crooked under the table agreements whose implementations led to success achieved by striding over the bodies of those unable to meet them in fair combat will be mourned not for their evil but for their failure to remain in place. Perverse antisocial behavior will be saluted with wink and nod, as children, as women, as men are forced into compromised situations. All fodder for the entertainment of those who break every rule of civility, of decency.  

Even the very forces and methods of keeping people on the straight, the narrow, the proper, are turned on their heads, used as enablers of indecency and dishonor. Courts are used to strengthen the bizarre and contrary behaviors of ruling classes.   Wealth is increasingly and unfairly distributed. Shared cooperation, shared positive views of mankind, of the humanity of all, of the right to respect and decency, are strained to the breaking point and beyond. 

Does anyone notice? Does anyone care? If so, where the hell are they? Not out there in the streets fighting the right battles on the right side. Instead, the loudest, harshest voices are winning the battle, gaining the notice, the power, needed to grow the false promises of their negative repressive society.   Opposition to these twisted values, so corrupt that the path to correction is obscured almost beyond revival, is discouraged via any which manner or path found, be it in bizarre rulings and immoral laws, broken and corrupted court systems, and cowed yesmen toadies of legislators willing to abjure their powers to right wrongs, to be the leaders so necessary, so glaring in their absence. 

I look back many, many years, to those of my youth, to the idealism of the young who 'know' that we can improve, that we can make a better, more moral and caring society, able to take care of all. We can and did dream of such but fell down on the job as life progressed. We ventured to other roads of needs and deeds. Our songs veered from hopes for the future, to words of what could have. should have been - "those were the days". That and those deemed as necessities overpowered the dreams   and thus, here we are. Same old, same old, even worse, perhaps. 

We should have known better, done better, but we did not. Gains achieved with great difficulty were negated, fell back under attack and the hopeful generation of then became the rather conservative generation of the now, with too much of the false returned. Mean times in every which way possible, bitterness growing within all, refusal to see and recognize shared dreams and necessities. The next generations began to follow the same retreaded paths rather than blaze new ones. Attempts to do the right thing, to choose the proper pathways through life were often met with disappointment for they needed hard and intense, long-lived effort, with too tired, too selfish, too incapable and/or too unwilling to put in the time and effort dominating.  

And here we are. Again. Yet again. Those who are hopeful, still, despite all that has gone on, particularly within the psst decade or so, dream of better times, of younger dreams, and pray that this next generation will see through the obscuring fog of wrong choices or those misdirected, and a better world will be visualized and realized.

 Each generation must take on and shoulder the blame for their errors, their failures, the need to move past the wrongs of yesterday, keep the encouraging and build better todays, and certainly build for much improved tomorrows. 

Perhaps at some time in the near future, the song will be not 'those were the days, but these are the days.  A person can dream. 

NO BLOG TODAY

 DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFICULTIES NO BLOG TODAY. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ YESTERSDAYS BLOG.

ON BEING TIRED

  I am tired. So very tired. Beyond the point of weary. Beyond the point of anger. Just tired.

Some of this condition has a physical reason behind it. Number One. Despite the fact that my children dispute this statement. I am old. I am old with some chronic conditions. A drain on one physically, as there is a constant state of watchfulness. What am I eating? What am I doing? How am I exercising? Do I do enough exercise? Why is the monitor reading this number? Why isn't it that way? Maybe I am doing too much exercise. Maybe I need to cut those hours down. Slow down a bit. I don't know. And in the not knowing and the fulfillment of the tasks I must do during those hours there is a great round circle of just being tired. Just being tired.

Number Two. Hours of sleep are limited. Not because we are puttering around till late hours, but because sleep loves to elude me. It is that very rare night that I can sleep through. Most of the time if I get 4 hours of continued sleep, that is a good night. The rest of the hours are a series of catnaps till blog time and perhaps a nap during the day - if not at therapy! 

Even so, I know I will continue. Take all those exercises. All those hours. In rehab. Physical and occupational. Of paying strict attention to my voice and my swallowing. Because the cost to do it independently adds up over a very short time. If one cannot do it over Medicare, private demands a lot of money. Which, incidentally, I don't have at the present time. So, I am mindful of and for myself. I know my voice is getting hoarser, quieter. People sometimes ask me to repeat myself. Me. I was able to raise a voice loud enough to quiet a schoolyard. Ironic.

But there is another tired. One seemingly, that never goes away, that never will go away. And even when it has attempted to be discarded someone always manages to pluck it right out of that trash and run with it. They run far and deep. They send the football pass to one ready to catch it and carry it deeper. Then to pass it, and others like it to the many who stand ready to catch it. 

In fact, many others fighting this ugly game of hate have tried to catch it, bury it, even destroy it for once and for all time.  However, this football roams the air of society, dripping its toxic hate and the fight is never over. Never. It multiplies at the speed of sound. In number and viciousness. The energy, physical, mental, emotional needed to combat this, well, it drains very quickly. It is yet another state of constant watchfulness. It is a state of comparing what happens today or what is planned for tomorrow. Does it match yesterday? Is it getting worse? Is it staying the same? Has it always been like this? Or is it getting worse? Is it a case of more information flowing our way, giving the appearance of being more? Or a case of indeed ramped up to heightened condition and we are indeed called upon to watch and act. Not merely to react, but to pre-act. To be proactive. Perhaps if we do this carefully, we might actually be able to dampen the enthusiasm of these hatemongers, to those vending hate, JewHatred, to all wishing to buy in, to get in on the "fun" of it all. 

This hatred is toxic. But it is even more wearisome. Tiresome. Able to smother sparks of hopefulness. When even mainstream media buys into it. When they all get into the wagon of yellow journalism, join in the fray, one cannot pull wool, hats, towels, whatever, around the heightened nerves of fear jangling in your mind. No more. In the words of one who deals with antisemitism and contributed an article for The New York Times, titled. Antisemitism Moves Into the Political Mainstream", read and feel the shivers down your spine.    

What is next? Propaganda pictures of Jews. Doing wrong. wallowing in putrid acts. Whatever wrong can be thought of. More intense separation? No allowing for any creative activity. For any writings of thought. To dampen their economic wellbeing. Curtailing ownership of businesses. Of practices. 

When is next? It seems to me that we already are well on that way. Jewish bands, Jewish actors, booted off stages and performance venues.  Or have their acts canceled. Due to the fear of the venue owners. This is not a description of outliers. Of sick people. No, this is instead the experience and consequences of filth that comes from those who are sure they are welcome. Who are no longer waiting off stage, no longer afraid to declare their hatred. 

When the man running for mayor of New York City, one of the most Jewish metropolitan areas in the world, is an openly stated anti-Jewish character. Who says he does not support the statement of "global intifada ' but somehow manages to bring it up every time he is interviewed and refuses to condemn this trope of hate and extermination of Jewry. And now, where do we go from here? Where? Is there anywhere other than Israel, that state deemed illegitimate. Where?   

It is ironic indeed when the earnings of the Superman movies have been withheld from him.  When the current Superman is a Jewish actor.     It brings us back to his words. He said, “I brought Superman out of my own heart. I hope people remember that after I'm gone." It mirrors the millennia long theft of Jewish assets, ideas and creations. It is the voice of a Thomas Friedman in one of his pieces something of sense.  of acknowledgment that yes, he's a Jew. 

On the other hand, you have a Ross Douthat who   pretends that he is pro-Israel. Explained sensibly every single reason, every single misdeed Israel is accused of. And then turns the whole thing on its head and proclaims the war unjust. No, survival is not unjust. As one writer puts it, "We are exhausted. But we endure. We have to. Our children are watching. Our children are watching."

 Hopefully they will be able to see the events of this decade with clearer eyes, better vision, for it is for them we must do our best. It is Antisemitism when the State of Israel is deemed illegitimate. It is so when people advocate in loud voice to exterminate all Zionists, effectively meaning all Jews.  It is when Jewish communities round the world are attacked, people slain, burned. Jews who now must stand guard on institutions of the community, to prevent another Oct7.  Why is this so? Why must it be assumed that this antagonistic meme of hatred is justified for whatever sick reasons very sick people gin up. Why must it be so? 

When a Holocaust survivor who worked the rest of her life as a therapist for troubled souls, is driven to say not to be surprised by any of this ugliness for "There is always someone out to get you. Deal with it."

I, and many others, are tired of 'dealing' with it.

I am tired,

 I. Am. Tired.

I AM VERY TIRED.

Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

So very, very tired. 

ACTUALLY, A WHOLE LOT MORE AND A WHOLE LOT LESS

  And actually, this is an answer to the question posed in my blog of yesterday. What have we done? Yes. We have done much; we have allowed accusations to flourish. We have allowed our children to be thrown off a plane for being vicious "terrorists" aged 10 to 15 who sang in support of a 'terrorist state' - i.e. Israel. We allowed their 21-year-old slim wisp of a nonthreatening counselor to be thrown to the floor. arms handcuffed behind her back, dragged off the plane and arrested. Oh, so frightening a "terrorist" - but evidently all these adherents of terror left their nonexistent weapons at home, using their voices raised in song as weapons of terror. What the Hell!!! 

Shamefully, the airline backed the pilot who sat and watched the police he had ordered violate the rights of these children, terrified them in a world which permitted, encouraged open hunting season on Jews traveling round the world along with those deemed good targets for murder in their homeland, their nation, Israel. Even as it was revealed that this pilot was a teacher of 9/11 terrorists who crashed the plane into the Twin Towers on that infamous day.  A hateful excuse of a human who watched all this take place, who, in fact, exacerbated it and called in the police to take these frightening terrorists off the plane.   For what? For singing, which they stopped immediately on command, but what if they hadn't? A 'crime' punishable by arrest and violence? For the weapons they had - their voices raised in song? What the Hell!!!!''    

Sheer. Ugly. Blood dripping anti Semitism. And the world's eye passed over it with ears blocked as well. Yet another incident of same old, same old. Deny, dehumanize, degrade and terrorize Jews, separate them from the ranks of humanity, encourage others to look upon this as a normal event. All to encourage further acts of JewHatred and the sky's the limit. 

This disregard of the humanity of Jews, the lack of proper treatment - when it was already a war crime for kidnapping and harming them. For the hostages they killed in captivity. For the two Bibas boys brutally strangled by a coward who picks infants as his opposing warrior!  For the missing outrage when Hamas ordered them to be slaughtered, as they did to six others on the brink of rescue. The world - quiet as a herd of timid dormice, afraid to censor murderers, perhaps even praising this order while in the privacy of their own offices and homes.  Dying, slowly, inch by inch, and the silence, the lack of reproof for this threat? Not a word. Thunderous deafening silence.  

All the questions remain. All the answers. Not heard. Which nation was invaded by the other people? Who specifically took as targets of murder and slaughter the civilians of the area. Their prime targets. From infant to elderly. It made not a difference. In fact, the more brutal the better seemed to be their mantra. Where was and is the world in condemnation of babies being burned in the ovens? Even that they could not speak out against. Where was the protest when 85-year-old men and women were dragged over the border, to be held as prisoners. To be exchanged as they want now: 2000 terrorists released and another 200 life prisoners, guilty of slaughter within Israel in   horrendous attacks. On top of the previously released, and free once again to wreak blood-soaked havoc upon one and all.

Furthermore, to think that finally, there would be a final release of all hostages, living and dead, is to engage in wishful thinking. Big mistake. The murderers, the terrorists of Hamas, of Islamic Jihad, always use civilians, even their own, as shields for themselves. They are the cause of the massive deaths in Gaza. They are the ones not stopping this war. Put down their arms, concede defeat, and free the hostages - and face judgement for their sins.   

 When the people of Israel stand and protest and call for the release of all hostages, they are so right. But they are at the wrong door. They belong at the doorways of other nations, at their embassies and consulates. They belong in protest at those nations. Demanding they stop their silence, break it with strength and pride. Call for and do the right thing. But I must admit the hope for that to happen is wispy and fragile. Certainly not if the nations of the world continue to hold Israel as the one to concede defeat, to snatch that defeat from the mouth of victory, to set the stage again for yet more brutality.      

Where is it said, why is it said, where has it been applied that the victor should concede? That the instigator of the war and the terror, the side now in a condition of defeat, should be able to dictate terms of ending the war. Was this allowed for Japan? For the Nazi government? For the nations who fell before their onslaught? No, it was called unconditional surrender. And this is so clearly what should be happening here. Instead of putting pressure on Israel to concede to all demands, to humiliate it, to use the hostages as pieces on a chess board, put the pressure where it belongs - those who instigated and began this war by invading in brutal and blood-soaked attack.  

Israel has been and continues to be subject to pressure to demean itself, to be less than other nations, and, in fact, why not fall upon its own sword and save the world a whole lot of troubles. Wander the globe once again, no place to lay down, no place to call home. Allow, instead, a return to the old status. Try to be quiet, unnoticeable, stay under the radar. Allow their state, the one Jewish state in the world, to be subsumed within the multitude of. Arab and Muslim states. Oh, for sure, the world would be such a better place, would it not?

The answer to that is go to hell. Straight there. No side trips, no detours. Join those you encourage and enable in the fires of hell. You, your supporters, your enablers, those whom you have cowed and terrified. You will never succeed in your goal of extermination. Powerful nations have tried that, and yet they are gone, and we are here. But in the meanwhile, we suffer. 

The question now to add to the previous question of what have we done, is now what more can we do? To end this perpetual battle of existential survival. What must we not do? The answers are complicated. And perhaps not even able to be voiced, to be put into words. Yet we all must try. For the glories and the woes of yesterdays. For the replication of todays we live. For the sake of the tomorrows we want and anticipate for our children, for our grandchildren. You must do better. We must wake up the nations of the world to the wrongs they perpetrate and perpetuate. By the people of the Jewish nation.

 And as for those people who hide behind submission to the memes and tropes of Haters, remember bottom lines. You too are Jewish, and you will share the same fate as other Jewish people. There is no safety in cowardice. There's only victory and safety in pride and resistance. Standing up for yourself, for your people. Drop your posters. Take a step over to the other side of the street, the other side of the barrier. And then see how your 'friends' have now become your enemies. Chanting and calling for your death. For your elimination. For you to be once again wandering the face of the earth. With no place to call home. No more.

What have we done? What have we allowed? What must we oppose?

All questions needing answers.

The answers are up to us.

WHERE'S THE BEEF?

  For those of you too young or forgetful, this is the line from an iconic ad for a fast-food chain transfigured into a contribution to the lexicon of phrases. It testifies to a questioning as to what is or has been promised, an understanding of its promise kept or forgotten, and at times demanding of an answer. That is for today, at least for the purpose of this posting.  

What and where is/are the beefs and what has been answered or avoided? What is their portent for us?  How clear is this beef and its consequences to the onlooker, the population receiving them? These beefs are often existential in effect, even as that is denied, even as the harm resultant is clearly ongoing. Even as the American psyche has been and continues to be wounded with these beefs, cutting deeply into us, our society, and our future. If we do not understand this societal fact or belittle their role in shredding beliefs, then we are in trouble. Majorly!

So, I picked up yesterday's papers and perused them for ongoing and developing, widening examples of beefs new and old, static and transfiguring. In fact, basically the only semi positive trend or beef is the growing ones that more and more people are expressing, albeit not nearly as much and as seriously, as effectively as it should be. As it must be. 

That is the growing understanding of the nation as to the harm we are now self-inflicting, the lies fed to us, and the pressure to think the emperor is clothed in blazingly beautiful outfits mirroring his inner soul. Truth is that the barefaced lack of costuming matches the barefaced evil intents of this would be emperor, ugly both inside and out, and eminently injurious to our safety and wellbeing. We are late to this party, very late. Whether too late is now being discussed more frequently. It behooves one to be aware and involved, lest apathy lead the way to major life changing shifts within American society. Think not that it has not already begun. It has. Well on its way to total adverse effects, many of which, too many, are in active play. 

Too often, too many, particularly in changes affecting the world in general, are already in play. In fact, some believe we have already reached, even overtaken the moments of no turning back. Perhaps we might be able to remedy one or two, but seriously, many doubt that possibility, both for lack of methods and   lack of enthusiasm. Powers that be oppose demands upon the fortunes they so obscenely create for themselves. Their greed knows no bounds and they work hard to enforce their claims that all is right in the world; just trust them. 

There have already been much negative impacts upon the food chain, in both growth and supply. Environmental and climate changes have had awful impacts in this arena, in all aspects. Traditional crops have become inappropriate for areas, leaving farmers to confusion. Labor is also short in supply due to paranoid new legislation voted upon by unthinking toadies without clear understanding of the negative impact of such rulings. Distribution becomes more difficult even as the needs are growing, along with quite healthy and harmful input of black marketeers and terrorist groups.   

What have we done?

We have increased the level of paranoia in this world. Clearly growing. Clearly spreading. More demands to wall off the world. Denying the lessons of history time and time again. Misguided actions of leaders of the world's nations lead to the horror of war, be it by proxy or by worldwide involvement.  That was true years, centuries ago and remains so today, even as we deny it. We persist in plucking with blind eyes and unfeeling fingers, the worst of yesterday and applying it to the challenged world of today. As expected, though unacknowledged, the results are the same. 

It remains a worthless and dangerous political plank forever, yet on it goes, its adherents of crazed shouting and spittle-stained mouths. Always, no matter the 'end' of the conflict, the result is invariably the same and most definitely not good for mankind. Problems go unheeded, no positive alternatives of positive cooperation and on we go with Deja vu. Again, and again and again. Each 'new' war having roots in the most recent war of the nation's past.  We are no different today than yesterday, many yesterdays. Fighting a losing battle no matter the declared 'winner', for war inevitably has no victor. We are the peoples of a planet refusing to understand the dire need of cooperation among all nations, for the orb we share is small and delicate, already so deeply harmed by the nasty foolishness of mankind.  Will we ever learn?

Along with warfare waged against our fellow human beings, we wage warfare upon this long-suffering planet of ours. Depleted the world of the necessary warriors of climate control. The trees. We have deforested major areas of the world and done the same in small areas. Denuded the land of trees which refresh our air, provide much needed shade on the newly boiling lands of earth. They increase the ability of the land to absorb huge amounts of water, neither too hard baked nor too soaked to absorb it. Nor is there enough open land now to do so for we have paved over our paradises with cement, raising temperatures, or draining the water tables for showoff unnecessary pools, mainly unused, and for growing lush lawns in deserts. 

More is the name of the gain. More highways. More ticky-tacky homes. Overpopulation, denser areas inimical to good lives and clear air. More smog and pollution. More tension among those fighting for resources, for fewer traffic jammed roadways. But never in the same zip code as the developers and governmental figures. 

Along and on we go, persisting no matter the proof presented and the growing necessity to fix the problem, before too late. Erosion and flooding and drought, monster storms, insufficient plans for prevention and rescue. All the while most of us stand like dummies, refusing to see the forest for the trees or the trees for the forest. Blindness and willful denial, even as complaints rise in number and intensity.

Will we ever learn? Will it be a case of too little too late? More homes destroyed, places of business wrecked and people, men, women, children, hunters, campers, hikers, people living their lives condemned to death because mankind refused and continues to refuse, to think, to follow threads to conclusions and think of new ways, better ways to handle this mess of our own creation.

What have we done?

Nor is the majority portion of this world exempt from damage by mankind. Our oceans are losing, already have lost much of their ability to absorb all that we have thrown at it, in it.  All that we have forced it to endure. The fish within who have provided humanity with food for eons, are now challenged by the newly shifting currents, different temperatures and new dangerous environments for them. Yet we persist in denial, downplay the level of pollution and inimical change, discount its role as provider of sustenance for mankind.

We refuse to preserve the ocean. Or maintain the rules we do have on that subject. Nations openly flout restrictions and bristle with arms and threats should they be interfered with or challenged. The beaches are heavily eroded. Yet we continue to do the wrong thing for the wrong reasons at the wrong times. What is temporarily convenient has become the chosen path. That which is necessary long term is disregarded. Discarded. For selfish reasons.

What have we done?

We have made a mess of it all. We must do better. And we must do that now. Where's the beef? For sure it is within our environmental climatic and. living worlds. We have made life hurtful, more dangerous for many in our blind rush to .... what, for what ... What can we do? What should we do? How /should we do it? What are realistic, achievable goals What is the timetable?

This is for brains bigger and brighter than mine. All I can do is answer the question as to where the beefs are. What they are. Then depend upon those with knowledge, experience and desire to do the right thing. To fix this world of ours which we have so damaged, so taken for granted.

What have we done?

What have we learned from our yesterdays, for our todays, and certainly for our tomorrows.

Hard put to answer that. 

What have we done?

REALITY CHECK

  Every once in a while, someone must pick up the reins and say whoa. Sometimes the horse has already taken us far away from one's original destination. Sometimes that is a good move. Other times, not so much. These are the days when decisions must be made even though one has no definitive proof favoring one direction versus the other. What one should do at such a moment is to apply one's rear end to a seat, take pen or keyboard in hand and make a list - pros and cons, good or bad, sue me or not. Tote it all up. Add in a dab of emotion. A tad of history. A mite of common sense. And voila, we have reality. We have a basis for a decision.

However, what is the result when all that we add in, stir vigorously into the mixture is based on misinformation. How are we to know, to distinguish, between information true and information false? It is critical that we do so despite all the incoming missiles of war, aimed at the truth, to limit its exposure. Strategies are befouled in a rapid pace, and it is difficult to defend against. 

There are mountains and swamps of information. Some presented as truth. So easy to believe. And other times demand an almost godlike knowledge and massive ability to discern true from false, right from wrong. One's sanity is challenged. The urge is there to simply push it all aside. Bury one's head in the sand. But the reality is we cannot, we must not.   It must be recognized that we have tried that technique numerous times over the millennia of human presence on this planet. It does not work. Sooner or later the piper must get paid, lest he take all the hopes for the future away, dancing to the rhythm of hypnotic notes, forever more never to be seen again.  

 Humanity must accept the reality. And then the decision. Do we like that reality? Do we strive to keep it intact? Or do we dislike that reality? Then struggle to make our way through jungles with entangling branches. Over mountains. Via deep tunnels beneath the earth. Through burning desert. And flooded territory. All to devise a different reality. One more conducive of all that we hope for. Peace. Democracy. Kindness. Empathy. Understanding. Goodness. It's really challenging, and too many have fallen by the wayside during this perilous journey.

All the more tempting to throw our hands up. and say all this-but no more. It is someone else's turn. While that is correct, for someone must always pick up the candle and lead and light the way to journey's end. But before we do hand over the candle, the lantern showing us the correct path forward, we must make sure that we have done all that we could and should, and even more. Left behind a clear directional signal which way to turn and which not? There is a Judaic maxim that he who saves one life, it is as if he saved the world. So too is the converse. He who condemns one, it is as if he condemned the entire world. Wished upon them an ugly, dark, hopeless future, an unhappy reality on crack!

A peek into our reality. We are drowning in misinformation. Perversely sent to lure us off the correct path, to veer towards the evil, dark and hopeless future awaiting us at the end of this road.  To prevent wrong choices, we must accept responsibility for our decisions and their consequences. Did we enable a circle of crazed leaders, greedy for wealth, greedy for power. Caring naught for the people of their nation. For the people of the world, in fact. It is not a butterfly flapping its wings, so much as it is the multiple sounds of "shots heard round the world".

 It is up to us - to choose. Do we take the shots and run quickly into a clear tunnel though its end remains shrouded in darkness? We remain unknowing, uncertain. Is there even an end to it? If so, what is at the end awaiting us? Would it be the beauty, the encouragement of a rainbow or will it be a pot of useless fool's gold. Why do the lights overhead dim at times while the other tunnel's remains steady? Is this a warning? Or is this merely a presentation of truth? That life is difficult. There are perils, and disappointments aplenty. At the end it will be clear to us. When and where and how we struggled and even fell but always returned to stand erect and determined to finish the journey. 

 We are in the midst of our personal journey of life. At times it is not clear. Would you have somehow strayed from one path to the other and then back again? Life is full of uncertainty. We must accept that. Prepare to deal with it and do so in fact, so that when the time comes, we will know we have done the right thing, left behind a legacy for the future.  

 We will have done right for the future, the tomorrows, learned well the lessons of yesterday, and today, and prepared for the tomorrows to come. We will understand that the journey can be long and arduous, but rewards await us along the journey. But.  Who were the proper leaders? Which path was taken?  How much longer within the struggle?  We have children awaiting their journeys. ad must pass on the wisdom of reality to them - Certainly see to it that we recognize the truths of the matter! Then pass it on.

Reality. Life. 

Recognition of truths.  

Spurning the tempting falsehoods. 

We can but try, but dear G-d, we must do better.

Have patience, for we are Your creations.