So first of all - CHAG SAMEACH!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ISRAEL ON TURNING 68 - HAPPY HOLIDAY!!
So why the title? Well, first read this quote from Golda Meir, 4th Prime Minister of Israel.
Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”
Israel's soul. So Israel turns 68 and I know someone else who also turns 68 soon. Easy way to remember one's age, is it not!? So once again I spent hours listening, watching, laughing and crying as I toodled thru Facebook, emails sent to me - all celebrating today and discussing what it means, especially in light of the status of Israel and Jews in the world.
Israel is actually thousands of years old. Never has there been a time when there were no Jews living there. Never has there been a time that we have not prayed to return, even in the depths of the dirt and the hate of the camps and the ghettoes, when we established clandestine synagogues under threat of death. Never was there a time when Jews did not try to travel to the land, no matter its name of the time, even sometimes dying after they were able to see and touch the holy Western Wall. And from now on and forever, this will be our land and a place of refuge and safety, a place where one can think and develop freely, a country which among all the nations of the world is the ONLY country that is expressly Jewish, that will reach out to rescue Jews no matter where they are, who has them and how far and how hard it is to do, no matter their color or facial features. It is a land of people laughing and crying, growing and regressing, hating and loving, thriving and failing. In other words, it is a land like all others - except that this is a country that is always fighting for its survival even as it stands as a beacon of hope for all Jews throughout the world.
So what's the deal with CUNY? When in the 1880's there was a large immigrant inflow of Jews fleeing pogroms in Poland and Russia, coming penniless to the "Goldeneh Medina", they brought with them the hope for the future of their children, for a better life for them and with that came the love of learning and culture, much of which transferred also to the love of secular achievement.
Their children went to school and then to college. But where to go? How to afford it? And thus entered the colleges of CUNY. Free, or of little real cost, the students came and learned and went forth to teach and heal and discover and research and think. My parents went to CUNY. I went to CUNY. My sister did. My friends did. And we knew we had to repay society in return for the benefits that it had given us and so many of us returned as professors and administrators into a growing system that served all the people of the city and its environs. And it welcomed all.
Today it is a glorious institution but there is a dark spot upon its lungs, a shadow of evil and disease, for today, it is not so healthy to be Jewish and live and learn and work within CUNY. Hunter, John Jay, Brooklyn - my alma mater - City, and Kingsborough, to name a few, are not safe for Jews, not welcoming to Jews, not engaging in fair hiring practices for Jews and one of the worst things about it is the pandering of "Judentrat" Jews, of fellow Jews who would sell out their fellows for the name of their own gain - a temporary gain - for we all know what happens in the end.
Suddenly it is not so safe to walk around with a kippah on one's head, or a Jewish star hanging around one's neck. Suddenly one is crucified if one is an outspoken Jew (sorry for the analogy but it is quite apt). Suddenly a Jewish kid walking across campus needs to be watchful and at times even be escorted by security. And it is not CUNY alone, for now one of the questions parents ask of university officials all around the country is "how safe will my child be?" They ask about the anti Semitic incidents on campus, how many swastikas have been slashed and painted about and around campus, how many kids beaten up, how strong are the pro Palestinian and BDS groups, how intimidating are the professors that profess those views. These are a few of the questions asked. And why? Why again? Why ever?
The song that celebrates the land, that it is your land, my land, belonging to you and me - now has other words to it from coast to coast depending upon the university and college. But I feel it most personally as I read about it in CUNY. That was my college. That is the college of some of my grandchildren. If I felt safe there then why not them? Indeed, why can my grandson over there on the West coast have to be asked by a nervous set of grandparents how the situation is?
So Happy Birthday, Israel and may you live forever. May those who think about destroying you, who sing of taking over the land from "the river to the sea" and sending the Jews into that sea - may they get their deserved desserts and may G-d watch over us. From the prayer that we recite in synagogue for the State of Israel, just as we always recite the prayer for the government of the United States, I quote:
"Heavenly Father, Israel's Rock and Redeemer.
Bless the State of Israel, the first flowering of our redemption."
And from its national anthem, Hatikvah, the Hope: "As long as in the heart, within
A Jewish soul still yearns,
....An eye still gazes toward Zion:
Our hope is not yet lost,
the hope of two thousand years,
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem."
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
REALLY? REALLY
"People everywhere just wanna' be free.
People everywhere just gotta' be free."
Remember that song? It fit the time but now I begin to wonder. Do people even understand what it means to be free, the responsibility that devolves upon one's shoulders, the necessity of working together, of constant slogging away to keep it going? Looking around - I have grave doubts.
It appears that many countries feel a need or have a need for a strong hand at the till and they are right in that, for a weak one leads a country to vacillating and that is not good for the country nor the world if it is a powerful country. That is what we now have in our country and, I believe, that is why there are so many "protest" votes for Trump, whose "You're fired" appears to portray him as a determined and strong-minded individual, perhaps the strong person we need as a leader. Yet is he? Or is he rather another error of our body politic?
What to do in a country undergoing vast and rapid change. We have beach side property that is literally going under. We have droughts and we have overdevelopment, even right here in Florida and right by us here in Palm Beach County. We have fewer acres for growing food, less land available for drainage, over demand on facilities and this is replicated all over.
And the world? Well, let's see. We literally have an exploding and disintegrating Middle East. Syria is for all intents and purposes no more and no talks in Vienna, if they ever really do start, can put it together, any more than the Kingsmen and Humpty Dumpty. Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan - all at war or facing constant bombings and explosions. Shia, Sunni, Yazidis, Houthis, Christians, Jews - all in a murky soup, with clans and families claiming loyalty within the groupings and with some groups having little or no power and who appear to be mainly dying, rather than fighting. No democracies, all with strong men or groups at the head with poor results, except for Israel, the only democracy in the region. So really, do people truly want to be free? Do most of them even know what it means as they have lived lives, for generations, of strict rules governing religion, clans, families, men and women.
Africa is no better. The tribes which were jammed together in countries that have no relevance to them are exploding, with their own mini versions of ethnic cleansing. Colonial powers created artificial borders and they have only led to growing tension until they explode in fierce fire. Growing desertification, Arab vs. black conflict increases and pieces of history are destroyed as are the values that are supposed to be part of humanity.
Asia is no better with countries having strong dictators or weak democracies that carry no power. We have a major nutjob playing with nuclear missiles in North Korea and China playing chicken with our planes and ships.
The artificial drawing of borders after WWI and WWII did not help Europe either as they finally exploded in racial and ethnic warfare and even as strongmen were overthrown, as Soviet Russia was kicked out, the seeds of more conflict were laid. Freedom led to some years of democracy but the disintegration is building up - or rather throwing down - the results as more strong men appear and more extremist parties grow in power. And as for the elephant in the room, the old Russian power, the old Soviet power - well, there were a few years of democracy and then we are back with a Putin. It seems that throughout history in that area, the Russian needed a "Little Father', be it the Tsar or a dictator and democratic strivings had weak roots in the populace. So who wants to be free and more important, who can insure that freedom? Really and truly. It appears to be a question without answer.
And now we have these mass numbers of migrants roaming around the waters and lands of Europe or stagnating in Turkey, a quickly developing situation there destroying Kemal Ataturk's accomplishments and returning to a dictator with strong religious overlays. The EU is shaky and countries threaten withdrawal or non compliance. The migrants are almost antithetical to the current populace of Europe and how to integrate them, incorporate them, remake them?
And here, within our own country we are at a seeming war as well, sometimes with words and sometimes with weapons of murder and death. White and black backlashes. Ever narrower interpretations of religion. Black entitlement. White entitlement. The rising Hispanic population and power. BDS on campus. Is this a return to a protest society, protests that became violent, that led to bombings? I hope not but am worried. And our leaders, or potential leaders? Go find them. Any one of them with a brain appears to opt out of the political circus or turns to the money making arena, where they leave their "Americaness" at the door and turn into servants of the corporation, downsizing and outsourcing, engaging in shady practices and not so repentant when discovered. They appear to ignore the ancient saying that whatever is done under cover of darkness is eventually exposed to the light.
Our parties scream at each other and have lost loyalty to the electorate and replaced it with a dumb loyalty, an unthinking loyalty, to the Party. Should we not replace that capital P with a lower case p, properly reordering things and status? Even here in the Village, there appears to be a lack of loyalty and responsibility towards the electorate, the residents, and more of a loyalty to a people cult, a personality cult, and to personal demands. Lanny today talks of the deterioration of Channel 63, what it does not have. Well. It used to have that, but when people like the Greggs are forced to resign for honor and principles - well, no "tape" is going to help. Here, as well as in the larger world, democracy and freedom have deteriorated. People have signed off, allowing strongmen to enter. No one wants to accept the onus of work that is required to keep democracy going - not here and apparently fewer and fewer in the world at large.
So really, where are we? Have we lost the desire and the knowhow to keep a democratic government going? Have we lost the trait of caring or are we all deteriorating to people who either want power or who want to be left alone. And yet, that does not work out well either for then we have enslavement, oppression, women enslaved, enshrouded in yards of clothing, prejudice in the job market, downgrading of the contribution of workers and the emphasis on control and money.
If people really and truly want to be free and got to be free - well, then they have to work at it. Really.
People everywhere just gotta' be free."
Remember that song? It fit the time but now I begin to wonder. Do people even understand what it means to be free, the responsibility that devolves upon one's shoulders, the necessity of working together, of constant slogging away to keep it going? Looking around - I have grave doubts.
It appears that many countries feel a need or have a need for a strong hand at the till and they are right in that, for a weak one leads a country to vacillating and that is not good for the country nor the world if it is a powerful country. That is what we now have in our country and, I believe, that is why there are so many "protest" votes for Trump, whose "You're fired" appears to portray him as a determined and strong-minded individual, perhaps the strong person we need as a leader. Yet is he? Or is he rather another error of our body politic?
What to do in a country undergoing vast and rapid change. We have beach side property that is literally going under. We have droughts and we have overdevelopment, even right here in Florida and right by us here in Palm Beach County. We have fewer acres for growing food, less land available for drainage, over demand on facilities and this is replicated all over.
And the world? Well, let's see. We literally have an exploding and disintegrating Middle East. Syria is for all intents and purposes no more and no talks in Vienna, if they ever really do start, can put it together, any more than the Kingsmen and Humpty Dumpty. Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan - all at war or facing constant bombings and explosions. Shia, Sunni, Yazidis, Houthis, Christians, Jews - all in a murky soup, with clans and families claiming loyalty within the groupings and with some groups having little or no power and who appear to be mainly dying, rather than fighting. No democracies, all with strong men or groups at the head with poor results, except for Israel, the only democracy in the region. So really, do people truly want to be free? Do most of them even know what it means as they have lived lives, for generations, of strict rules governing religion, clans, families, men and women.
Africa is no better. The tribes which were jammed together in countries that have no relevance to them are exploding, with their own mini versions of ethnic cleansing. Colonial powers created artificial borders and they have only led to growing tension until they explode in fierce fire. Growing desertification, Arab vs. black conflict increases and pieces of history are destroyed as are the values that are supposed to be part of humanity.
Asia is no better with countries having strong dictators or weak democracies that carry no power. We have a major nutjob playing with nuclear missiles in North Korea and China playing chicken with our planes and ships.
The artificial drawing of borders after WWI and WWII did not help Europe either as they finally exploded in racial and ethnic warfare and even as strongmen were overthrown, as Soviet Russia was kicked out, the seeds of more conflict were laid. Freedom led to some years of democracy but the disintegration is building up - or rather throwing down - the results as more strong men appear and more extremist parties grow in power. And as for the elephant in the room, the old Russian power, the old Soviet power - well, there were a few years of democracy and then we are back with a Putin. It seems that throughout history in that area, the Russian needed a "Little Father', be it the Tsar or a dictator and democratic strivings had weak roots in the populace. So who wants to be free and more important, who can insure that freedom? Really and truly. It appears to be a question without answer.
And now we have these mass numbers of migrants roaming around the waters and lands of Europe or stagnating in Turkey, a quickly developing situation there destroying Kemal Ataturk's accomplishments and returning to a dictator with strong religious overlays. The EU is shaky and countries threaten withdrawal or non compliance. The migrants are almost antithetical to the current populace of Europe and how to integrate them, incorporate them, remake them?
And here, within our own country we are at a seeming war as well, sometimes with words and sometimes with weapons of murder and death. White and black backlashes. Ever narrower interpretations of religion. Black entitlement. White entitlement. The rising Hispanic population and power. BDS on campus. Is this a return to a protest society, protests that became violent, that led to bombings? I hope not but am worried. And our leaders, or potential leaders? Go find them. Any one of them with a brain appears to opt out of the political circus or turns to the money making arena, where they leave their "Americaness" at the door and turn into servants of the corporation, downsizing and outsourcing, engaging in shady practices and not so repentant when discovered. They appear to ignore the ancient saying that whatever is done under cover of darkness is eventually exposed to the light.
Our parties scream at each other and have lost loyalty to the electorate and replaced it with a dumb loyalty, an unthinking loyalty, to the Party. Should we not replace that capital P with a lower case p, properly reordering things and status? Even here in the Village, there appears to be a lack of loyalty and responsibility towards the electorate, the residents, and more of a loyalty to a people cult, a personality cult, and to personal demands. Lanny today talks of the deterioration of Channel 63, what it does not have. Well. It used to have that, but when people like the Greggs are forced to resign for honor and principles - well, no "tape" is going to help. Here, as well as in the larger world, democracy and freedom have deteriorated. People have signed off, allowing strongmen to enter. No one wants to accept the onus of work that is required to keep democracy going - not here and apparently fewer and fewer in the world at large.
So really, where are we? Have we lost the desire and the knowhow to keep a democratic government going? Have we lost the trait of caring or are we all deteriorating to people who either want power or who want to be left alone. And yet, that does not work out well either for then we have enslavement, oppression, women enslaved, enshrouded in yards of clothing, prejudice in the job market, downgrading of the contribution of workers and the emphasis on control and money.
If people really and truly want to be free and got to be free - well, then they have to work at it. Really.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
STATISTICS - JUST NUMBERS?
Last week statistics were bandied about as to how many Jews were killed, slaughtered during the Holocaust. Were there more than 6 million as we discover more information as records from the former USSR are revealed? And does it really make a difference? Seven million does not make any more of an impression than 6 million. In fact, the better way to look at those figures is to put it into terms that the mind can accept. The three year old who is slammed against the wall, the baby speared on a bayonet. The mother who refuses to abandon her child and goes to death with her. The father who dies trying to protect his aged parents and covers their eyes before they are shot and fall into a pit. The ragged partisan with his treasured rifle. It is the individual stories and people who make the horror clearer, more visual, more intimate.
In today's world there are constant barrages of numbers being thrown at us, so many that we begin to become numb from them and to them. So many people versus so many others. This many people who get ill versus those many who do not? We begin to skim over these statistics for numbers are cold, just figures. So before I give you some new figures, let me first explain what they are and see if they will be met with more of an understanding, of an internalization, of what they represent.
This period of time in Israel is often bipolar. We celebrate Passover, the holiday of freedom and the beginning of our becoming a true nation. Then suddenly the commemoration of the Holocaust is upon us, along with the attachments of all the other attempts throughout history to destroy the Jews, from the ravages of the Greeks and Romans, the Persians, through the Inquisition and expulsions, the pogroms - no lack. Yet along with that comes the determination that we are here and will remain so while so many of our enemies are no longer with us.
A week later , beginning tonite, as do all Jewish holy days, we begin the commemoration to the memory of all those soldiers killed defending their homeland, Israel, from those who came off the refugee boats from the ashes of Europe and were given a gun and taken directly to the battlefields to defend against the six Arab armies that invaded Israel immediately upon declaration of statehood to those killed in the name of terror, of Allah. We mourn those victims of terror, killed and wounded, including two elderly women this morning, 86 and 82, stabbed in the back by two cowards who decided that these two elderly women were their enemies. Big heroes are they?
Tonite and tomorrow, for most of the day, there will be wailing sirens to stop the country for a minute or two and then to start ceremonies. There will be awards and citations to heroes, including one to a soldier of 21, a father of a little child, shopping in a supermarket, unarmed, who took it upon himself to defend others there in the market and fought with his bare arms against an armed terrorist and murderer. Later tomorrow, late afternoon, will bring a gradual change from buckets of tears to the tears of joy that Israel Independence Day brings out. There will be more ceremonies, kids racketing through the streets with shaving cream and squeaky hammers. There will be parties, barbecues and ultimate joy and acknowledgement that we have our State, the Jewish state and our citizens will defend it to their last breath. Never again will we be taken and slaughtered. We are a people, a nation, with our own land, a land that was ours from times of antiquity. We have restored it and it has restored us. And finally, we will have Lag B'omer, a holiday with huge bonfires and field trips and a few weeks later, the holiday of Shavuot, when we became a spiritual nation, when we were given and accepted the word of G-d at Mount Sinai. A true roller coaster.
But back to statistics. Here are a few.
23,447 victims of war and terrorism since 1948.
68 casualties this year and 58 wounded and disabled IDF soldiers die of their wounds.
16, 304 bereaved relatives in Israel including:
9,442 families
4,917 war widows
1,948 orphans up to the age of 30
1.5 million Israelis will visit the military cemeteries today.
132 ambulances will be stationed by these graveyards. Why? Answer that yourself.
Tonite at 6:00 PM
In today's world there are constant barrages of numbers being thrown at us, so many that we begin to become numb from them and to them. So many people versus so many others. This many people who get ill versus those many who do not? We begin to skim over these statistics for numbers are cold, just figures. So before I give you some new figures, let me first explain what they are and see if they will be met with more of an understanding, of an internalization, of what they represent.
This period of time in Israel is often bipolar. We celebrate Passover, the holiday of freedom and the beginning of our becoming a true nation. Then suddenly the commemoration of the Holocaust is upon us, along with the attachments of all the other attempts throughout history to destroy the Jews, from the ravages of the Greeks and Romans, the Persians, through the Inquisition and expulsions, the pogroms - no lack. Yet along with that comes the determination that we are here and will remain so while so many of our enemies are no longer with us.
A week later , beginning tonite, as do all Jewish holy days, we begin the commemoration to the memory of all those soldiers killed defending their homeland, Israel, from those who came off the refugee boats from the ashes of Europe and were given a gun and taken directly to the battlefields to defend against the six Arab armies that invaded Israel immediately upon declaration of statehood to those killed in the name of terror, of Allah. We mourn those victims of terror, killed and wounded, including two elderly women this morning, 86 and 82, stabbed in the back by two cowards who decided that these two elderly women were their enemies. Big heroes are they?
Tonite and tomorrow, for most of the day, there will be wailing sirens to stop the country for a minute or two and then to start ceremonies. There will be awards and citations to heroes, including one to a soldier of 21, a father of a little child, shopping in a supermarket, unarmed, who took it upon himself to defend others there in the market and fought with his bare arms against an armed terrorist and murderer. Later tomorrow, late afternoon, will bring a gradual change from buckets of tears to the tears of joy that Israel Independence Day brings out. There will be more ceremonies, kids racketing through the streets with shaving cream and squeaky hammers. There will be parties, barbecues and ultimate joy and acknowledgement that we have our State, the Jewish state and our citizens will defend it to their last breath. Never again will we be taken and slaughtered. We are a people, a nation, with our own land, a land that was ours from times of antiquity. We have restored it and it has restored us. And finally, we will have Lag B'omer, a holiday with huge bonfires and field trips and a few weeks later, the holiday of Shavuot, when we became a spiritual nation, when we were given and accepted the word of G-d at Mount Sinai. A true roller coaster.
But back to statistics. Here are a few.
23,447 victims of war and terrorism since 1948.
68 casualties this year and 58 wounded and disabled IDF soldiers die of their wounds.
16, 304 bereaved relatives in Israel including:
9,442 families
4,917 war widows
1,948 orphans up to the age of 30
1.5 million Israelis will visit the military cemeteries today.
132 ambulances will be stationed by these graveyards. Why? Answer that yourself.
Tonite at 6:00 PM
COMMEMORATE FALLEN SOLDIERS
MEET THE VISITING ISRAELI TEENS |
Tuesday, May 10
Temple Beth El - Palm Beach
Ceremony featuring Izzy Ezagui, a lone soldier from South Florida who lost his arm while serving in the IDF. Also a performance by Mifgash Zikaron, six Israeli teens from our partnership region
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Tears and joy. Numbers, cold, yet with a melting heart. From babies to the elderly, it seems it never stops, nor does the hate seem to have any borders, moral, spiritual or physical. Numbers. Statistics. What do they mean?
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Get to know the delegation of six Israeli teens who will perform a moving Yom Ha'Zikaron ceremony.
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Monday, May 9, 2016
STATUS QUO - "TOO BIG, TOO TALL, TOO LITTLE TOO SMALL"
Status quo is the current situation or condition at any given moment. It is the existing state of affairs and usually refers to social and/or political issues but can be stretched to cover most important topics.There is a status quo in one's personal life, one's local life and in our national life. At times that status quo is good and better left alone, simply insuring that it remains so and at other times one had better do something, anything, to change and better that status quo.
One's personal life is just that and one's own business. The national status quo is one that we can do something about if we all work hard at it and make our voices heard thru letters, calls, emails, and of course, our voting. At present, I believe our national status quo, and indeed, the status quo of the world sucks, to use the vernacular. People are in despair at the presidential elections, hating both candidates yet feeling they must vote for someone. There is vague talk of a third party candidate but personally, I put little stock in that and should there be a viable one, it will just split the vote - but who will benefit? Only G-d knows! It could be, though, that this period of time, this status quo in our national political and social condition, demands another historical split of a party and just as the Republican and the Democratic parties resulted from splits, spin offs of other parties of the times, could we have a new party arise? Could be interesting. Could be exciting. Only time will tell - and the courage and honesty of key political figures who will decide if they will cravenly back that candidate which they insulted, refuted and refused earlier or will they have the courage of their convictions and realize that it is not the Party that is most important, nor its victory, but rather the country that is the most important, and its citizens, you and I. Again, only time will tell. G-d help us all.
But what about our local status quo. When the election here was over, it remained as it had been, actually a tad worse as fewer independent voices were left in the administration and there was an air of apathy and despair at the same time, a tiredness at the realization that the inertia of a few doomed the many to a miserable and dangerous status quo and future. Supposedly this administration would continue its "wonderful" improvements to the Village but I could not see them then nor now. So....status quo?
We are still talking about the buses to Publix. Again? And how about the bus to Publix going to a different Publix, a newer Publix, one with wider aisles, better lighting, better fruits and vegetables. There is a brand new one two more minutes away on Village Road. Why not work with them? Just sayin'.
We are still talking of old issues that are worthy of no more talk. Leave the crossing or pass through alone near Haverhill but perhaps we need to have a mandatory class for all drivers from the Village and even those who would service the Villagers. About what? Try safe driving. It is almost a contest to see if one can make it across alive when crossing the street! Slow down. Stop at crosswalks and even if you see a pedestrian crossing without the crosswalk. No one's baby is crying so slow it down. And for Heaven's sake, stop at a stop sign when coming out of a parking area. You are not alone on the road. Use road courtesy for safety's sake. A little education could go a long way. And for Pete's sake, ride the seat scooters on the walkway, not the road!
And still, yet again, what is with the waterways. I, and many others, are sick and tired of the excuses for their condition. We are tired of hearing how the Clubhouse lake is so much better. Well, that could be but most of us live alongside other lakes and canals and are just as worthy and deserving of clean and serene waterways. Yesterday, walking over a deteriorating bridge, neglected by WPRF, Gerry and I looked down at the canal and YICH! There was a mat of who knows what nearly blocking the canal. It looked like the canal at the outer edge of the Village where water comes in. Disgusting! Quite frankly it looked like an additional touch of sewage was mating with the green gunk to form who knows what. Will we have our own Blob of the Village? Hmmm, might be a way of making money to fix the damn problem already. Where are our blue waters of a few years ago? Why are there so many disgusting spots seen on the lake bottoms? If this company keeps selling the same old song and it never wins a prize, perhaps it is time to switch, one might think. Why are we sticking with losers?
Then of course we have the "new" contract proposal with Comcast. Never mind that we have three and a half more years with them. Never mind that we have a more important contract talks and negotiation to prepare for and that will demand, indeed does demand, more prep time and NOW - the post Millennium contract talks. But no. David Israel wants his baba - his form of it anyway, the chance any which way to sneak in his Wi Fi or Broadband for the Village. The fact that it is here already makes no never mind to him. The fact that cable is cable and Wi Fi is Wi Fi and the Village has not signed off on Wi Fi, indeed refused it - no never mind to that man. Ever! Baba time!
Any new doorway fee would have to be decreased by the doorway fee we would have to return for the years of the contract that we did not fulfill so there goes that imaginary benefit. The increased cost is horrocious! Almost double what we are now paying and remember, there is a yearly increase and 3% of a larger number is more than 3% of a lesser fee. So we are simply subjecting ourselves to new fees so great that there are many, many of our people who simply will have to make a choice between that or eating, that or health. And then what will WPRF do - chase them down, demand their money, take them to court, sue their pants off?
Status quo? We have it all in the Village. Those who pay individually have exactly what they want, as we do and as so many others do. Those who live in associations who wired up the building have that and are eminently satisfied and those associations whose residents have decided to leave it all as is are also fine. David is putting pressure on Comcast to refuse more association wireups and one must ask why is that? Baba time again? There are plenty of places in the Village where one can work on one's computer and one can use multiple devices in a home just as we do and so do many of our friends so scare tactics are just plain dumb and plain wrong. But baba time for David continues.
Oh, and do not forget the "hot" spots that would supposedly be included. Great idea - not!! That is unless you are a crook and have decided to hang out at those very same hot spots and simply gather all the info you need from those congregated there. One is always told to be careful, to not do financial stuff at these hot spots, like Starbucks or the airport! But, nope, let us poor deluded senior citizens provide info for those who so desperately are needing it to support their life style!! G-d forbid we deny others food for their hungry mouths!
This proposed contract is just so bad and so unnecessary at this point. We have a contract. The whole situation is changing. Why are we rushing into a new long term contract which is unnecessary for us right now. The status quo here for Wi Fi is just fine. Leave it alone. Gather information to make a decision in another couple of years. Work on other more pressing matters. Baba time can wait, David. People here need their food even as you drink your baba from their hard earned and simple funds. Enough.
Status quo? You think about it. And by the way, status quo also refers to the Rag. It simply gets worse and worse and who is making decisions there? Don turns down an article and then Joy counters that? And where is Myron in all this? And still waiting on free acceptance of articles and better representation of the news and information for the Villagers, the paper's original and still stated purpose! Status quo? Again, at times it sucks!
Let me close with another quote from Dr. Seuss. In his book about hats he talks of wrong fits, "too big, too tall, too little too small, etc." but....there is one that is "just right, just right, just right". Never have we heard a just right solution from the current administration of UCO or WPRF. Time to fix that and time to demand that.
PS TO GRACIE:
It appears that your status quo needs help, desperately. Inviting or telling me to move out of the Village every time you disagree with me is just plain old boring and irrelevant. One constructively criticizes that which one cares about, as I care for the Village. So....change your status quo, Gracie girl. For your sake.
One's personal life is just that and one's own business. The national status quo is one that we can do something about if we all work hard at it and make our voices heard thru letters, calls, emails, and of course, our voting. At present, I believe our national status quo, and indeed, the status quo of the world sucks, to use the vernacular. People are in despair at the presidential elections, hating both candidates yet feeling they must vote for someone. There is vague talk of a third party candidate but personally, I put little stock in that and should there be a viable one, it will just split the vote - but who will benefit? Only G-d knows! It could be, though, that this period of time, this status quo in our national political and social condition, demands another historical split of a party and just as the Republican and the Democratic parties resulted from splits, spin offs of other parties of the times, could we have a new party arise? Could be interesting. Could be exciting. Only time will tell - and the courage and honesty of key political figures who will decide if they will cravenly back that candidate which they insulted, refuted and refused earlier or will they have the courage of their convictions and realize that it is not the Party that is most important, nor its victory, but rather the country that is the most important, and its citizens, you and I. Again, only time will tell. G-d help us all.
But what about our local status quo. When the election here was over, it remained as it had been, actually a tad worse as fewer independent voices were left in the administration and there was an air of apathy and despair at the same time, a tiredness at the realization that the inertia of a few doomed the many to a miserable and dangerous status quo and future. Supposedly this administration would continue its "wonderful" improvements to the Village but I could not see them then nor now. So....status quo?
We are still talking about the buses to Publix. Again? And how about the bus to Publix going to a different Publix, a newer Publix, one with wider aisles, better lighting, better fruits and vegetables. There is a brand new one two more minutes away on Village Road. Why not work with them? Just sayin'.
We are still talking of old issues that are worthy of no more talk. Leave the crossing or pass through alone near Haverhill but perhaps we need to have a mandatory class for all drivers from the Village and even those who would service the Villagers. About what? Try safe driving. It is almost a contest to see if one can make it across alive when crossing the street! Slow down. Stop at crosswalks and even if you see a pedestrian crossing without the crosswalk. No one's baby is crying so slow it down. And for Heaven's sake, stop at a stop sign when coming out of a parking area. You are not alone on the road. Use road courtesy for safety's sake. A little education could go a long way. And for Pete's sake, ride the seat scooters on the walkway, not the road!
And still, yet again, what is with the waterways. I, and many others, are sick and tired of the excuses for their condition. We are tired of hearing how the Clubhouse lake is so much better. Well, that could be but most of us live alongside other lakes and canals and are just as worthy and deserving of clean and serene waterways. Yesterday, walking over a deteriorating bridge, neglected by WPRF, Gerry and I looked down at the canal and YICH! There was a mat of who knows what nearly blocking the canal. It looked like the canal at the outer edge of the Village where water comes in. Disgusting! Quite frankly it looked like an additional touch of sewage was mating with the green gunk to form who knows what. Will we have our own Blob of the Village? Hmmm, might be a way of making money to fix the damn problem already. Where are our blue waters of a few years ago? Why are there so many disgusting spots seen on the lake bottoms? If this company keeps selling the same old song and it never wins a prize, perhaps it is time to switch, one might think. Why are we sticking with losers?
Then of course we have the "new" contract proposal with Comcast. Never mind that we have three and a half more years with them. Never mind that we have a more important contract talks and negotiation to prepare for and that will demand, indeed does demand, more prep time and NOW - the post Millennium contract talks. But no. David Israel wants his baba - his form of it anyway, the chance any which way to sneak in his Wi Fi or Broadband for the Village. The fact that it is here already makes no never mind to him. The fact that cable is cable and Wi Fi is Wi Fi and the Village has not signed off on Wi Fi, indeed refused it - no never mind to that man. Ever! Baba time!
Any new doorway fee would have to be decreased by the doorway fee we would have to return for the years of the contract that we did not fulfill so there goes that imaginary benefit. The increased cost is horrocious! Almost double what we are now paying and remember, there is a yearly increase and 3% of a larger number is more than 3% of a lesser fee. So we are simply subjecting ourselves to new fees so great that there are many, many of our people who simply will have to make a choice between that or eating, that or health. And then what will WPRF do - chase them down, demand their money, take them to court, sue their pants off?
Status quo? We have it all in the Village. Those who pay individually have exactly what they want, as we do and as so many others do. Those who live in associations who wired up the building have that and are eminently satisfied and those associations whose residents have decided to leave it all as is are also fine. David is putting pressure on Comcast to refuse more association wireups and one must ask why is that? Baba time again? There are plenty of places in the Village where one can work on one's computer and one can use multiple devices in a home just as we do and so do many of our friends so scare tactics are just plain dumb and plain wrong. But baba time for David continues.
Oh, and do not forget the "hot" spots that would supposedly be included. Great idea - not!! That is unless you are a crook and have decided to hang out at those very same hot spots and simply gather all the info you need from those congregated there. One is always told to be careful, to not do financial stuff at these hot spots, like Starbucks or the airport! But, nope, let us poor deluded senior citizens provide info for those who so desperately are needing it to support their life style!! G-d forbid we deny others food for their hungry mouths!
This proposed contract is just so bad and so unnecessary at this point. We have a contract. The whole situation is changing. Why are we rushing into a new long term contract which is unnecessary for us right now. The status quo here for Wi Fi is just fine. Leave it alone. Gather information to make a decision in another couple of years. Work on other more pressing matters. Baba time can wait, David. People here need their food even as you drink your baba from their hard earned and simple funds. Enough.
Status quo? You think about it. And by the way, status quo also refers to the Rag. It simply gets worse and worse and who is making decisions there? Don turns down an article and then Joy counters that? And where is Myron in all this? And still waiting on free acceptance of articles and better representation of the news and information for the Villagers, the paper's original and still stated purpose! Status quo? Again, at times it sucks!
Let me close with another quote from Dr. Seuss. In his book about hats he talks of wrong fits, "too big, too tall, too little too small, etc." but....there is one that is "just right, just right, just right". Never have we heard a just right solution from the current administration of UCO or WPRF. Time to fix that and time to demand that.
PS TO GRACIE:
It appears that your status quo needs help, desperately. Inviting or telling me to move out of the Village every time you disagree with me is just plain old boring and irrelevant. One constructively criticizes that which one cares about, as I care for the Village. So....change your status quo, Gracie girl. For your sake.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
ON GETTING OLD AND DR. SEUSS
Was feeling a bit down this weekend as everything decided to ache at the same time. Told my feet were collapsing - well, there goes my walking so how now to exercise? How now to get thru the newer aches and pains? Then I remembered the books I used to teach and the same books I read to my little ones and to the newer little ones as they came along. One of our favorite family stories is how my oldest used to get up at 5:00 AM, come to our room and demand that her father read four specific Dr. Seuss books and it had better be in the proper order! I can still recite them by heart! Thus began a lifelong love of Dr. Seuss - by me! Even this little memory cheered me up a good deal.
Then this same child, now grown up, though always my baby to me, sends me pieces from Facebook and elsewhere that she thinks I would enjoy and appreciate. One of those pieces that came today was from PBS NewsHour - Brief But Spectacular series - bit.ly/briefbutspectacular - On Getting Old - with Flossie Lewis being interviewed or rather giving forth her own little monologue. Cut and paste this address and find Flossie and laugh and admire. And she was a teacher of English!!! Yea for we teachers of English, for we have taught the world the power of language.
So, getting back to Dr. Seuss. One of my favorite topics to teach was about metaphors, extended metaphors and allegories and used The Butter Battle Book within that unit. Reading it aloud to the kids - yes, my eighth graders who sat there open mouthed and eager to see the pictures - led to a discussion of its contents and the lessons learned from the book. But then again, they were not surprised for they had already learned that lessons for life were to be found everywhere, from Dr. Seuss to Shakespeare to Chaucer to modern day writers to poets and even to modern media.
So, what is the point. Simply to illustrate why I think that language plays a great role in getting old and in dealing with its issues, with relating to people and with the knowledge that we are always learning and had better be doing so, for to not do that, is to shut down and truly get old. So, I present a few of my favorite Dr. Seussisms for your edification and delight and for my enjoyment as well. Hope you enjoy them and can find room to apply them to your way of life and thinking.
From Happy Birthday to You - "Today you are you. That is truer than true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you." How many times have we been told that we must be ourselves, we must be true to ourselves and if we are not, well, we all know the consequences of that. That statement often gives me the courage to go on, even in the face of obstacles, of nastiness, for if there is to be a me, then it must be the true me. I know no other way. And it should be a true statement for all of us as well. Even Shakespeare agrees when one of his characters states, "To thine own self be true."
To continue the thought - why must we adhere to that state of being true to ourselves? Well, here comes wisdom from The Lorax. "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not." So, at times it is easier to give up, to say the hell with it, to give in to the tiredness, but NO, we must not and I say this to a friend of mind who is tired - do not give up. Take a break if you must, but continue to lend your strength to others, continue to be an inspiring example for them, lead them forward and be "truer than true" to yourself and to us as well.
Is this an easy precept to follow? No, definitely not, but then again, no one ever said life was meant to be easy and do not think to look at others and wonder why for believe me, if there is one benefit to getting old, besides grandchildren that is - it is learning that everyone has a package and better yours than the ones they have. So, from "Oh, the Places You'll Go" here are more words of wisdom. "Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's a great balancing act." That is so true and when we get out of balance we must realign ourselves, put things into perspective, think and prioritize and get back the true balance in our lives. Not easy, but it can be done.
This is both serious and sheer whimsy, but think again of some of the great writers you have come across, old and new. Think of the pleasure their words have given you, have inspired you, have made you laugh and cry, have made you think. Think of the power of words and how they can convey emotion, deep emotion. And then wonder why it is that some people are selectively and willingly deaf to the power and the truth of these words and the truth they present and advocate for.
Terror victim Natan Meir wrote a letter to Ban Ki Moon re his recent appearance and plea to the UN and its General Assembly. He lost his wife, the mother of six beautiful children, who died defending them, and spoke of his grief and his wishes for peace, for harmony with his neighbors, how even his Palestinians neighbors came to him to comfort him. Yet the UN seems to have turned a cold and hateful cheek to him They sympathized with the Palestinian ambassador who described the killer as an innocent child forced into Israeli prison. He pleads "Does the United Nations strive to be relevant when there is not a drop of the most basic humanity?," questioned Meir in his letter. He continues on and ends his letter with "If you would like to help, please help us to build bridges and connections between people, rather than borders and fences," he concluded.
The only way to do that is to use words, to hear the words of others, to feel the words of others.
and to use words to communicate. It is hard, sometimes seemingly impossible at times, but the results are well worth the time and the use of words. Hear the words of "The Green Prince", the son of the Hamas leader who turned on the horrific politics of his father, wrote a book about it and speaks all over the world on behalf of the country of Israel and against the terror of Hamas, but people need to HEAR and LISTEN. We need to hear in Africa, in Asia, in the United States, all over the world for if we do not do that, then the power of weapons will be the power that is used and words will fade.
Natan Meir spoke of building bridges as I did in the prior posting. I continue to speak of them, no matter the context and we must remember, as we read in Green Eggs and Ham - "Everything stinks till it's finished." Never a more true statement than that. We must not give up, be it here in the Village or in the state or country or world. We are all that we got, so let us use our words and let us make progress. Perhaps we all ought to read Dr. Seuss a bit more often. Children's tales are not truly meant for kids. Just pick up a book of fairy tales, ones that have not been cleaned up so the kiddies will not hear of bad things and see the truth of the world these tales came from. Better we hear the words of others than return to a world that made these "fairy tales" possible and a picture of a truth that we can all live without.
Indeed, let us all get older together and teach these young whippersnappers what life is all about. Give them the benefit of our collective wisdom. Getting old can be positive. Now.... where did I put that cane?
Then this same child, now grown up, though always my baby to me, sends me pieces from Facebook and elsewhere that she thinks I would enjoy and appreciate. One of those pieces that came today was from PBS NewsHour - Brief But Spectacular series - bit.ly/briefbutspectacular - On Getting Old - with Flossie Lewis being interviewed or rather giving forth her own little monologue. Cut and paste this address and find Flossie and laugh and admire. And she was a teacher of English!!! Yea for we teachers of English, for we have taught the world the power of language.
So, getting back to Dr. Seuss. One of my favorite topics to teach was about metaphors, extended metaphors and allegories and used The Butter Battle Book within that unit. Reading it aloud to the kids - yes, my eighth graders who sat there open mouthed and eager to see the pictures - led to a discussion of its contents and the lessons learned from the book. But then again, they were not surprised for they had already learned that lessons for life were to be found everywhere, from Dr. Seuss to Shakespeare to Chaucer to modern day writers to poets and even to modern media.
So, what is the point. Simply to illustrate why I think that language plays a great role in getting old and in dealing with its issues, with relating to people and with the knowledge that we are always learning and had better be doing so, for to not do that, is to shut down and truly get old. So, I present a few of my favorite Dr. Seussisms for your edification and delight and for my enjoyment as well. Hope you enjoy them and can find room to apply them to your way of life and thinking.
From Happy Birthday to You - "Today you are you. That is truer than true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you." How many times have we been told that we must be ourselves, we must be true to ourselves and if we are not, well, we all know the consequences of that. That statement often gives me the courage to go on, even in the face of obstacles, of nastiness, for if there is to be a me, then it must be the true me. I know no other way. And it should be a true statement for all of us as well. Even Shakespeare agrees when one of his characters states, "To thine own self be true."
To continue the thought - why must we adhere to that state of being true to ourselves? Well, here comes wisdom from The Lorax. "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not." So, at times it is easier to give up, to say the hell with it, to give in to the tiredness, but NO, we must not and I say this to a friend of mind who is tired - do not give up. Take a break if you must, but continue to lend your strength to others, continue to be an inspiring example for them, lead them forward and be "truer than true" to yourself and to us as well.
Is this an easy precept to follow? No, definitely not, but then again, no one ever said life was meant to be easy and do not think to look at others and wonder why for believe me, if there is one benefit to getting old, besides grandchildren that is - it is learning that everyone has a package and better yours than the ones they have. So, from "Oh, the Places You'll Go" here are more words of wisdom. "Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's a great balancing act." That is so true and when we get out of balance we must realign ourselves, put things into perspective, think and prioritize and get back the true balance in our lives. Not easy, but it can be done.
This is both serious and sheer whimsy, but think again of some of the great writers you have come across, old and new. Think of the pleasure their words have given you, have inspired you, have made you laugh and cry, have made you think. Think of the power of words and how they can convey emotion, deep emotion. And then wonder why it is that some people are selectively and willingly deaf to the power and the truth of these words and the truth they present and advocate for.
Terror victim Natan Meir wrote a letter to Ban Ki Moon re his recent appearance and plea to the UN and its General Assembly. He lost his wife, the mother of six beautiful children, who died defending them, and spoke of his grief and his wishes for peace, for harmony with his neighbors, how even his Palestinians neighbors came to him to comfort him. Yet the UN seems to have turned a cold and hateful cheek to him They sympathized with the Palestinian ambassador who described the killer as an innocent child forced into Israeli prison. He pleads "Does the United Nations strive to be relevant when there is not a drop of the most basic humanity?," questioned Meir in his letter. He continues on and ends his letter with "If you would like to help, please help us to build bridges and connections between people, rather than borders and fences," he concluded.
The only way to do that is to use words, to hear the words of others, to feel the words of others.
and to use words to communicate. It is hard, sometimes seemingly impossible at times, but the results are well worth the time and the use of words. Hear the words of "The Green Prince", the son of the Hamas leader who turned on the horrific politics of his father, wrote a book about it and speaks all over the world on behalf of the country of Israel and against the terror of Hamas, but people need to HEAR and LISTEN. We need to hear in Africa, in Asia, in the United States, all over the world for if we do not do that, then the power of weapons will be the power that is used and words will fade.
Natan Meir spoke of building bridges as I did in the prior posting. I continue to speak of them, no matter the context and we must remember, as we read in Green Eggs and Ham - "Everything stinks till it's finished." Never a more true statement than that. We must not give up, be it here in the Village or in the state or country or world. We are all that we got, so let us use our words and let us make progress. Perhaps we all ought to read Dr. Seuss a bit more often. Children's tales are not truly meant for kids. Just pick up a book of fairy tales, ones that have not been cleaned up so the kiddies will not hear of bad things and see the truth of the world these tales came from. Better we hear the words of others than return to a world that made these "fairy tales" possible and a picture of a truth that we can all live without.
Indeed, let us all get older together and teach these young whippersnappers what life is all about. Give them the benefit of our collective wisdom. Getting old can be positive. Now.... where did I put that cane?
Friday, May 6, 2016
THE BRIDGES OF LIFE - OR ARE THEY WALLS? WE NEED ROADS
They said it would never happen, could never happen. People would never allow it, would wake up and see the folly of the movement. Nah, never happen. And yet ....there he is, Trump as the presumptive Republican candidate for President of the United States. So shudder you might and shudder you should but that is the situation.
The man who cannot keep his statements aligned from one day to the next. The man who accepted endorsements from questionable characters such as David Dukes has now repudiated them. So what is the truth? The man who said he will build a wall and have it designed - and have Mexico pay for it - and deem its design a major triumph of his first 100 days in office, those mythical 100 days of any presidency - that is to be considered an accomplishment? The term America First is now being thrown around again and we all know what comes along with that. Are we to have marches in the streets of our cities advocating the policy of to hell with the rest of the world, forgetting that we all live together on one little orb in space? Are we to have the most divisive inauguration ever?
People will hopefully be able to soon sue big bank and big business when they cheat, such as pushing through mandated arbitration when there is a dispute and we all know who wins that. Will Trump change that? Trump is a major business person, a businessman himself - sometimes successful and many times not, but running a country is not the same as running a hotel and/or casino and then going into bankruptcy on it and starting again. Not so easy to do that with a country, especially one as big as ours. Will he just stand there in the middle of the hallway outside the Oval Office and shout, "You're fired!" and take on new hires? More important, will he ever run his hand through his solid hair in a moment of stress?
Many times I have stated, be it in writing, clear or in references and implications and within conversation that I am nervous about the governmental rule we will have here in the future as there appears to be no boundaries any more. Everything goes. It is frei, free, as my Bubbie used to say, and not in a good way. When there are no walls to anything then there are no bounds and society breaks down. That is the time ripe for takeover and if you think I am nuts, then just take a look at the most recent issue of the New York Magazine and see their cover story of the ripeness of the country for takeover.
So if he wants a wall in our south is that then okay? Nope, because it is a wall to wall us off from the world. Walls can be tunneled as we see in Gaza. Walls can be climbed - ask the migrants who do that every day over there in Europe. And increasing the number of military advisers is not necessarily the way to go nor the way to assure our allies of our staying on our true path. Do we need changes? Oh, yes. Obama has done us no favors in the international world of diplomacy. The USA has become a laughing stock of the world in many cases as people have lost their concerns about what we would do, our big stick has turned into a limp noodle, but we do not need a confused wielder of a big stick either.
Trump has no sense of government. He has no understanding of the checks and balances of our system and what we will have will be a further breakdown between executive and legislative branches and who knows what will be in the Supreme Court and who will fill the newly opened seat and any other ones that arise. Will we get another Clarence Thomas or another Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Will we have shutdown of the government as Party members will not support their supposed leader and who, for Heaven's sake, will truly lead us?
Does he have some good ideas? Yes. I am not particularly happy with these trade deals we have made and feel we have received the short end of the stick. But it needs negotiation, not summary pullout. I am certainly in favor of fines for companies that move out of the USA so they can maximize their profits. That is us they are screwing around with, our jobs, our people and for what? All so an inanimate entity such as a corporation can get wealthier? It is supposed to use that money to build with, not destroy. So here, I support at least some of his plans,
However, any one who thinks they can mess around with certain programs such as Medicare or Obamacare, have lost the truth of the matter somewhere. For the first time people who never had insurance can now go and take care of themselves, avoiding bigger runups of finances later because these big stuff items will have been avoided. It is kind of like the policy of broken windows of the police - take care of the little things and the big things will be resolved before they arise. I know people who were never able to afford medical coverage before and with companies cutting that benefit these people were 'naked" and now not. That is called progress.
I also cannot endorse a candidate who speaks so negatively, so insultingly about women and never mind the backtracks and the apologies. They mean as much and are as sincere as the apology forced out of two kids who were in a fight or two siblings who are still hissing at each other.
Two candidates - neither of whom is the ideal but there is a clearcut decision and choice here. Perhaps it is the lesser of two evils but then again, have the last two elections been anything different and perhaps we all made a mistake in those in our choices. Whatever one thinks, this man cannot become President. It is bad enough that he actually might be able to be a seemingly serious candidate for the office. We need to reassure the rest of the world that we truly have not gone off the trolley tracks, that this is a mere moment of teetering on derailment, but we will rebalance and chug along, with changes, with a reappraisal of relationships with other countries, but no derailment.
Further, we will not lose the progress we have made in our society. Pro choice will remain. Programs to help those in need here in our own country will remain and if you think they are not needed, trust me, we have enough poor and starving kids and families all on our own - through no fault of their own. We need to reevaluate and adjust our thinking. So Prince died - we all do - but the man was a drug addict, perhaps worthy of some sympathy for the mess he was in, but he was luckier than most since he had the funds and ability to fulfill his twisted needs, unlike many others in the same boat. Choose our heroes properly. This was not a hero and a talent (which I did not evidently appreciate) is not a reason for hero worship or ignoring of the truth. Nor is our main concern to be where people go to pee!
We have a long road ahead of us, a difficult one, one fraught with many dangers, potholes and complications. But it can be done if we build bridges and not walls, if we keep the progress we have made and adjust elsewhere, if we return to being the strong and capable leader of the world, a country that knows where it is going, knows what has to be done and has the inner strength to do it. No more lies. No more selfishness. No more opaqueness and lots more transparency. Huh! Sounds like what we need here in the Village, but I guess bad government is bad government no matter where or when.
Do not think that it can not happen, that he will not be elected. Who the hell thought he would get this far. We have had awful presidents before but the world is so much smaller and larger at the same time and this is a time fraught with danger. We cannot afford him.
And by the way, speaking of bridges, why has WPRF not fixed the Wellington bridge. The underpinnings are becoming more and more visible through the concrete, more exposed to the damage from the air and dampness and the salt in that air. Do we need to wait till it collapses and one falls in and meets the alligator who just loves our "fresh" water? Seriously, WPRF, Eva, a little fixin' up here, please.
The man who cannot keep his statements aligned from one day to the next. The man who accepted endorsements from questionable characters such as David Dukes has now repudiated them. So what is the truth? The man who said he will build a wall and have it designed - and have Mexico pay for it - and deem its design a major triumph of his first 100 days in office, those mythical 100 days of any presidency - that is to be considered an accomplishment? The term America First is now being thrown around again and we all know what comes along with that. Are we to have marches in the streets of our cities advocating the policy of to hell with the rest of the world, forgetting that we all live together on one little orb in space? Are we to have the most divisive inauguration ever?
People will hopefully be able to soon sue big bank and big business when they cheat, such as pushing through mandated arbitration when there is a dispute and we all know who wins that. Will Trump change that? Trump is a major business person, a businessman himself - sometimes successful and many times not, but running a country is not the same as running a hotel and/or casino and then going into bankruptcy on it and starting again. Not so easy to do that with a country, especially one as big as ours. Will he just stand there in the middle of the hallway outside the Oval Office and shout, "You're fired!" and take on new hires? More important, will he ever run his hand through his solid hair in a moment of stress?
Many times I have stated, be it in writing, clear or in references and implications and within conversation that I am nervous about the governmental rule we will have here in the future as there appears to be no boundaries any more. Everything goes. It is frei, free, as my Bubbie used to say, and not in a good way. When there are no walls to anything then there are no bounds and society breaks down. That is the time ripe for takeover and if you think I am nuts, then just take a look at the most recent issue of the New York Magazine and see their cover story of the ripeness of the country for takeover.
So if he wants a wall in our south is that then okay? Nope, because it is a wall to wall us off from the world. Walls can be tunneled as we see in Gaza. Walls can be climbed - ask the migrants who do that every day over there in Europe. And increasing the number of military advisers is not necessarily the way to go nor the way to assure our allies of our staying on our true path. Do we need changes? Oh, yes. Obama has done us no favors in the international world of diplomacy. The USA has become a laughing stock of the world in many cases as people have lost their concerns about what we would do, our big stick has turned into a limp noodle, but we do not need a confused wielder of a big stick either.
Trump has no sense of government. He has no understanding of the checks and balances of our system and what we will have will be a further breakdown between executive and legislative branches and who knows what will be in the Supreme Court and who will fill the newly opened seat and any other ones that arise. Will we get another Clarence Thomas or another Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Will we have shutdown of the government as Party members will not support their supposed leader and who, for Heaven's sake, will truly lead us?
Does he have some good ideas? Yes. I am not particularly happy with these trade deals we have made and feel we have received the short end of the stick. But it needs negotiation, not summary pullout. I am certainly in favor of fines for companies that move out of the USA so they can maximize their profits. That is us they are screwing around with, our jobs, our people and for what? All so an inanimate entity such as a corporation can get wealthier? It is supposed to use that money to build with, not destroy. So here, I support at least some of his plans,
However, any one who thinks they can mess around with certain programs such as Medicare or Obamacare, have lost the truth of the matter somewhere. For the first time people who never had insurance can now go and take care of themselves, avoiding bigger runups of finances later because these big stuff items will have been avoided. It is kind of like the policy of broken windows of the police - take care of the little things and the big things will be resolved before they arise. I know people who were never able to afford medical coverage before and with companies cutting that benefit these people were 'naked" and now not. That is called progress.
I also cannot endorse a candidate who speaks so negatively, so insultingly about women and never mind the backtracks and the apologies. They mean as much and are as sincere as the apology forced out of two kids who were in a fight or two siblings who are still hissing at each other.
Two candidates - neither of whom is the ideal but there is a clearcut decision and choice here. Perhaps it is the lesser of two evils but then again, have the last two elections been anything different and perhaps we all made a mistake in those in our choices. Whatever one thinks, this man cannot become President. It is bad enough that he actually might be able to be a seemingly serious candidate for the office. We need to reassure the rest of the world that we truly have not gone off the trolley tracks, that this is a mere moment of teetering on derailment, but we will rebalance and chug along, with changes, with a reappraisal of relationships with other countries, but no derailment.
Further, we will not lose the progress we have made in our society. Pro choice will remain. Programs to help those in need here in our own country will remain and if you think they are not needed, trust me, we have enough poor and starving kids and families all on our own - through no fault of their own. We need to reevaluate and adjust our thinking. So Prince died - we all do - but the man was a drug addict, perhaps worthy of some sympathy for the mess he was in, but he was luckier than most since he had the funds and ability to fulfill his twisted needs, unlike many others in the same boat. Choose our heroes properly. This was not a hero and a talent (which I did not evidently appreciate) is not a reason for hero worship or ignoring of the truth. Nor is our main concern to be where people go to pee!
We have a long road ahead of us, a difficult one, one fraught with many dangers, potholes and complications. But it can be done if we build bridges and not walls, if we keep the progress we have made and adjust elsewhere, if we return to being the strong and capable leader of the world, a country that knows where it is going, knows what has to be done and has the inner strength to do it. No more lies. No more selfishness. No more opaqueness and lots more transparency. Huh! Sounds like what we need here in the Village, but I guess bad government is bad government no matter where or when.
Do not think that it can not happen, that he will not be elected. Who the hell thought he would get this far. We have had awful presidents before but the world is so much smaller and larger at the same time and this is a time fraught with danger. We cannot afford him.
And by the way, speaking of bridges, why has WPRF not fixed the Wellington bridge. The underpinnings are becoming more and more visible through the concrete, more exposed to the damage from the air and dampness and the salt in that air. Do we need to wait till it collapses and one falls in and meets the alligator who just loves our "fresh" water? Seriously, WPRF, Eva, a little fixin' up here, please.
Thursday, May 5, 2016
TODAY
Today is a day where it is hard to write my own words. It is a day that often brings me to tears and to thoughts of "what if". Today is a day for contemplation, for thought, for history - both past, and present and even into the future, perhaps most importantly into the future. It is a day when I will present the words of others who have said it far more eloquently than I. Please read and think and for those who attended last nite's ceremony at the Morse, it was an evening well spent. What was amazing to me at one point was when the host spoke of his grandparents and how they met - his grandmother hearing the grandfather sing the Hatikva at liberation, liking it and coming over to him telling him so and then saying she would like to marry him. And so they did and I read of the story on You Tube that very day.
In any case, in no particular order, hear the words of others. Remember the Holocaust but more important, remember those who perished within it, those who were killed, burned, gassed, choked, beaten, drowned, frozen to death, shot, knived, buried alive, experimented upon and any other horrific manner of death. To forget them is to forget life itself.
Last Friday, Old Navy posted the ad to Twitter
, promoting a sale with a photo of an attractive, happy interracial family in an embrace. Within hours, a backlash was apparent, with hashtags like #BoycottOldNavy and #WhiteGenocide, and messages like “Stop promoting race mixing, you degenerates,” and “I don’t shop at stores ...
In the days since, there has been a backlash to the backlash, with hundreds of people voicing their rejection of the prejudiced messages in the most personal way possible, posting photos of their own interracial families, often with the hashtag #LoveWins
“From some 3,500,000 Polish Jews and about 700,000 other Jews deported to Poland from other countries — according to official statistics provided by the underground Bund organization — there remained in April of this year only about 300,000, and this remaining murder still goes on.”
I could go on and on, but the meaning is very clear. We are all responsible for mass tragedies, mass killings, if only because we have not done enough to stop it and even more so have allowed it to bloom with its rotten seeds quite openly - as in England, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Arab lands and even here. Hate produces more hate and the world steams with its foul odor. Standing by the sides and thinking that it does not affect you, that you are not one of the hated group or even are, but live in another country - think again. Each person is a universe in him or herself. Each generation denied the right to be born is a loss for mankind. Each person murdered is a loss of those generations to come. Have we not had enough already? May G-d send His light to shine upon us all that we might see the truth and truly understand all that we must do, that is upon us, to do Tikkun Olam, the repairing of the world.
In any case, in no particular order, hear the words of others. Remember the Holocaust but more important, remember those who perished within it, those who were killed, burned, gassed, choked, beaten, drowned, frozen to death, shot, knived, buried alive, experimented upon and any other horrific manner of death. To forget them is to forget life itself.
Last Friday, Old Navy posted the ad to Twitter
, promoting a sale with a photo of an attractive, happy interracial family in an embrace. Within hours, a backlash was apparent, with hashtags like #BoycottOldNavy and #WhiteGenocide, and messages like “Stop promoting race mixing, you degenerates,” and “I don’t shop at stores ...
In the days since, there has been a backlash to the backlash, with hundreds of people voicing their rejection of the prejudiced messages in the most personal way possible, posting photos of their own interracial families, often with the hashtag #LoveWins
.....It held a referendum in which the village’s 56 registered inhabitants agreed to shed its medieval name — Castrillo Matajudíos, which roughly translates as Little Hill Fort of Jew Killers. Instead, it is now called Castrillo Mota de Judíos, or something like Little Hill Fort of Jews.
Since then, however, the village has become a victim of repeated acts of vandalism, mostly anti-Semitic graffiti, that the mayor attributes to unknown far-right extremist groups that, he believes, have no direct connection to his village.
... the importance of zachor, of remembrance of the victims defamed, demonized and dehumanized as prologue and justification for genocide
... state-sanctioned ideology of hate. It is this teaching of contempt, this demonizing of the other, this is where it all begins. As the Canadian Supreme Court affirmed, “The Holocaust did not begin in the gas chambers – it began with words.”
Jews died at Auschwitz because of anti-Semitism, but anti-Semitism did not die there. As we have learned only too tragically, while it begins with Jews, it doesn’t end with Jews.
.... crimes of indifference, from conspiracies of silence – from the international community as bystander.
“From the latest information received from Poland, it is evident that the Germans, with the most ruthless cruelty, are now murdering the few remaining Jews in Poland. Behind the ghetto’s walls the last act of a tragedy unprecedented in history is being performed
“The responsibility for this crime of murdering the entire Jewish population of Poland falls in the first instance on the perpetrators, but indirectly it is also a burden on the whole of humanity, the people and the governments of the Allied states which thus far have made no effort toward concrete action for the purpose of curtailing this crime.
I could go on and on, but the meaning is very clear. We are all responsible for mass tragedies, mass killings, if only because we have not done enough to stop it and even more so have allowed it to bloom with its rotten seeds quite openly - as in England, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Arab lands and even here. Hate produces more hate and the world steams with its foul odor. Standing by the sides and thinking that it does not affect you, that you are not one of the hated group or even are, but live in another country - think again. Each person is a universe in him or herself. Each generation denied the right to be born is a loss for mankind. Each person murdered is a loss of those generations to come. Have we not had enough already? May G-d send His light to shine upon us all that we might see the truth and truly understand all that we must do, that is upon us, to do Tikkun Olam, the repairing of the world.
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
CIVIL WAR
Nope. This is not about the war which took place between 1861 - 1865. Nor, at least in the beginning, is it about a real war in time and space. Rather, it is about a civil war in the world of the graphic novels, as comics are now called. And actually, it involves two universes - that of Marvel and less well known, that of DC, perhaps an even stronger presentation, and even extends into the world of cinema. Whether it extends into our world? That is another train of thought to be addressed - and seriously, too.
Big hype going on about the movie opening this weekend - Civil War and great trailers with Ironman and Captain America, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, but the question underneath remains the same. It is a question of law and order vs. justice at any cost. When the world seems to be dissolving in front of us, do we fight back no holds barred, or do we fight following the rules, no matter that the other side is not. One side might have what appears to be the right on its side, yet the other side is winning due to its ruthless at any cost approach. Simplification, but there it is.
Then there is the question of collateral damage. How much damage is acceptable in the name of fighting a war. How much damage can a city take while superheroes rage in the streets and skies. Now, lest all of you think I am losing my mind, babbling about comics and what the hell do they have to do with life - well, here it is in a snapshot. The original heroes of Superman et al were drawn and created by two little Jewish guys who needed heroes, in a time when the world needed heroes, and suddenly here they were, representing the values of America and believe it or not, of Judaism and its ethics. People then grew up on these values and internalized them.
Today it seems that the doubts which plague all of us have entered the graphic novels and they plague the heroes as well, Are they right or wrong in what they do, in how they carry out their roles in life? Should they be under the control of others, especially when we all know how bureaucracy works! And then other questions and topics of society enter into all comic strains. For example, did you ever think that Jughead would give up Ethel and declare himself asexual or that there would be a gay character, Kenny, in Archie, or even that Archie would morph into a different look (actually very similar in looks to the old Modern Romance comic book men). So sometimes, there is a lot more to comics than one might think.
The questions that are evolving in these books are no different from the ones that are in real life and sometimes it is hard to figure out who first truly addressed the problem and brought it out into the public eye, the public mind, but they are questions of great import. Now just turn to our political calendar of events. Cruz held on but he has now withdrawn and that man that was a joke in the beginning will now become the ostensible Republican candidate for president of the USA. Good grief! Hair and all! Is this someone we can see representing us to the world, engaging in diplomacy and yes, many times diplomacy is filed with hypocrisy and perhaps he would cut through some of that but then again, on one day he says x and then the next it is y and then back to a and who knows for the day after. He would be quite unsteady and you know, those shows on TV like Colony and other political apocalyptic shows do not seem so sci - fi anymore, do they,frighteningly so. Even the questions posed in the "zombie" shows are not really about zombies but about how we react, as a society and as individuals, to the violent and sudden end to our society and how do we rebuild - or do we?
Now go one step further and ask if the formal Republican party will actually support this man or will they leave him alone in his own morass? Will many of their voters turn Democrat in their voting this election? And the campaign? Well, hang on to your hats and everything else, for this will be a truly vicious all out campaign with lots of nasty stuff. Will anyone be able to stand above the fray, hold out for the "right" way as opposed to no holds barred? I do not know and do not blame them, for it is difficult to stand there and get garbage thrown in one's face and then not fight back - on the same level. Not necessarily genteel, but what seems to be necessary.
So....civil war? Will the great cracks that seem to be developing and going deeper within our society go even further? Will there be violence at rallies? Already have been, so this is not out of left field? And oh, dear G-d in Heaven- what if Trump were to win? Where does one even go to escape the damage to the world and its peace. There is no place. And if one asks about Sanders, well, he is just as divisive as Trump. His ideas are too extreme and unrealistic. It is the flaming liberal beliefs of the eighteen year old, not the wise ones of a 74 year old, tempered by life and reality. So, people, as much as Hillary Clinton is not the ideal candidate, as if there ever were such a one, even so - there appears to be no choice other than to vote her in. At least there is sanity and stability. At least there is experience. We have just come off eight years with an inexperienced "leader" and we are in a mess for that so we must learn from that error, vote with the head, not the anger at the mess we have in society, in the world.
Civil War? Yes, interestingly so in the comics, frighteningly realistic, but let us avoid it within the society within which we live. The alternative is frightening indeed. Too frightening to truly comprehend. And if you think that such a thing could never happen, do not doubt. There have been too many instances of violence and rebellion within the American society from Shay's Rebellion to the equivalent of the Free State of Jones (and yes, the movie is based on real events) to Prohibition to the violence of many of the anti-choice adherents to the 1968 campaign and convention and on and on. I could troll the history books for more, but the point is clear - we need to proceed carefully, thoughtfully, peacefully. Keep tempers under control and plan well for the future, plans that will help us overcome the problems and issues that now divide and threaten us. Difficult, but doable, if we would all but try.
Big hype going on about the movie opening this weekend - Civil War and great trailers with Ironman and Captain America, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, but the question underneath remains the same. It is a question of law and order vs. justice at any cost. When the world seems to be dissolving in front of us, do we fight back no holds barred, or do we fight following the rules, no matter that the other side is not. One side might have what appears to be the right on its side, yet the other side is winning due to its ruthless at any cost approach. Simplification, but there it is.
Then there is the question of collateral damage. How much damage is acceptable in the name of fighting a war. How much damage can a city take while superheroes rage in the streets and skies. Now, lest all of you think I am losing my mind, babbling about comics and what the hell do they have to do with life - well, here it is in a snapshot. The original heroes of Superman et al were drawn and created by two little Jewish guys who needed heroes, in a time when the world needed heroes, and suddenly here they were, representing the values of America and believe it or not, of Judaism and its ethics. People then grew up on these values and internalized them.
Today it seems that the doubts which plague all of us have entered the graphic novels and they plague the heroes as well, Are they right or wrong in what they do, in how they carry out their roles in life? Should they be under the control of others, especially when we all know how bureaucracy works! And then other questions and topics of society enter into all comic strains. For example, did you ever think that Jughead would give up Ethel and declare himself asexual or that there would be a gay character, Kenny, in Archie, or even that Archie would morph into a different look (actually very similar in looks to the old Modern Romance comic book men). So sometimes, there is a lot more to comics than one might think.
The questions that are evolving in these books are no different from the ones that are in real life and sometimes it is hard to figure out who first truly addressed the problem and brought it out into the public eye, the public mind, but they are questions of great import. Now just turn to our political calendar of events. Cruz held on but he has now withdrawn and that man that was a joke in the beginning will now become the ostensible Republican candidate for president of the USA. Good grief! Hair and all! Is this someone we can see representing us to the world, engaging in diplomacy and yes, many times diplomacy is filed with hypocrisy and perhaps he would cut through some of that but then again, on one day he says x and then the next it is y and then back to a and who knows for the day after. He would be quite unsteady and you know, those shows on TV like Colony and other political apocalyptic shows do not seem so sci - fi anymore, do they,frighteningly so. Even the questions posed in the "zombie" shows are not really about zombies but about how we react, as a society and as individuals, to the violent and sudden end to our society and how do we rebuild - or do we?
Now go one step further and ask if the formal Republican party will actually support this man or will they leave him alone in his own morass? Will many of their voters turn Democrat in their voting this election? And the campaign? Well, hang on to your hats and everything else, for this will be a truly vicious all out campaign with lots of nasty stuff. Will anyone be able to stand above the fray, hold out for the "right" way as opposed to no holds barred? I do not know and do not blame them, for it is difficult to stand there and get garbage thrown in one's face and then not fight back - on the same level. Not necessarily genteel, but what seems to be necessary.
So....civil war? Will the great cracks that seem to be developing and going deeper within our society go even further? Will there be violence at rallies? Already have been, so this is not out of left field? And oh, dear G-d in Heaven- what if Trump were to win? Where does one even go to escape the damage to the world and its peace. There is no place. And if one asks about Sanders, well, he is just as divisive as Trump. His ideas are too extreme and unrealistic. It is the flaming liberal beliefs of the eighteen year old, not the wise ones of a 74 year old, tempered by life and reality. So, people, as much as Hillary Clinton is not the ideal candidate, as if there ever were such a one, even so - there appears to be no choice other than to vote her in. At least there is sanity and stability. At least there is experience. We have just come off eight years with an inexperienced "leader" and we are in a mess for that so we must learn from that error, vote with the head, not the anger at the mess we have in society, in the world.
Civil War? Yes, interestingly so in the comics, frighteningly realistic, but let us avoid it within the society within which we live. The alternative is frightening indeed. Too frightening to truly comprehend. And if you think that such a thing could never happen, do not doubt. There have been too many instances of violence and rebellion within the American society from Shay's Rebellion to the equivalent of the Free State of Jones (and yes, the movie is based on real events) to Prohibition to the violence of many of the anti-choice adherents to the 1968 campaign and convention and on and on. I could troll the history books for more, but the point is clear - we need to proceed carefully, thoughtfully, peacefully. Keep tempers under control and plan well for the future, plans that will help us overcome the problems and issues that now divide and threaten us. Difficult, but doable, if we would all but try.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
UNFORTUNATELY I DO GET THIS - IN A WAY...
There are some things in life that are unpleasant and curious and others that are far more frightening than that. Over the course of time I have written often about the rise in anti - Semitism and some of what I believe are the reasons for this. The truth is, this movement, this growth of hatred truly needs no reason, no analysis, for it seems to be a permanent part of the world's ills. No matter what is said, that we are a Judeo-Christian society, that we have given the Bible and other words of importance and inspiration, that we have contributed much to the progress of the world and even Mark Twain wrote about that in his famous piece on the outsize contributions of the Jews to the world and its civilization. We have won Nobel prizes, academic awards, been a huge part of the filmdom world, of political thought, of literature and art and the list goes on and yes, we even have had our famous criminals such as Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky and unfortunately we have had others as well, but all in all, I feel that the Jews have more than earned their keep on G-d's earth.
They have also come back from their proposed graveyards time and time again. How many enemies have chased us, burned us, threatened us with worse and worse, stoned us, gassed us, murdered us for maintaining our identity, just for being Jewish and make no mistake about it - no matter how assimilated one was, how intermarried or distant from any open observance of Jewish ritual - you were a Jew and subject to their fate. Throughout history we have outlived these enemies, from the beginning of time till now and we will continue to do so, but why must this always be a battle for survival?
Jews have long felt that they had a safe place in England. They forgot that there is a strong basis of anti - Semitic feeling in Britain. Remember, Edward II expelled them from England but first made sure to take all their funds and even burn them in York. It was not till centuries later that Jews were officially allowed back into England - centuries.
And now, what has changed? Well, we are not being burned - yet - and maybe not so far off if the plans of the radical Islamists gain stronger roots and adherents there. But we do not even have to wait for the Islamists, not when the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbin has waved that flag quite strongly. Publicly, over the past two months, they have suspended members, from candidates for office to those already there, and when their posts and statements grew too outrageous even for others to read, and Jews and others protested, suddenly these people were suspended and an "investigation" promised. Now it turns out that dozens have been suspended, over 50 on Monday nite alone!!! But this is a dirty little secret that had to come to the top, rise to the top like the scum it is. One does not need an "investigation" to know and understand that there is a rotten core here, certainly within the Labour Party. They have even sent hate posts to their own MP and why? Because she is Jewish. There is no excuse for this, no reasons - but I do get it. The hate is eternal, no reasons necessary and that is a fact that has come out of history. And the stories in the NY Times? Good luck finding them.
The lies, the canards, the vicious hatred, the bloodlust - all that, but there is more. Go on YouTube and type in Hatikvah at Bergen - Belsen, read a book by Elie Wiesel, surf YouTube for more stories of survivors and faith and heroism, read any of the genre of the Holocaust from fiction to non fiction, attend a Witness Theater production, listen to a recording by a survivor - and you will hear the truth and the courage and the hope and the guts and the determination and yes, the story of the Eternal Jew in a positive manner, not in a hateful rant filled with bloodlust and murder aforethought.
Tomorrow nite begins the observance of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. In Israel there are events, commemorations, televised stories and interviews, a reminding of the newer generations why they are there, how they got there and the purpose of Israel, its function not only as a modern state, a full partner in the world, but also still as a place of refuge for Jews still running for their lives, still being persecuted, killed, blown up - even here in Florida there was a plot to blow up a shul in Miami. In Israel they remember, and at 11 the sirens wail and the country comes to a halt. Cars stop on the highways, on the streets and the drivers stand by their cars. People stop mid footstep and stand, in silence, heads down, remembering the six million but also those of the future unborn, the generations stolen from us. All that has been that should not have been. Those survivors still with us remember the drastic change in their lives from one year to the next. I, personally, find it haunting to look at large pictures of groups, families, classes, clubs and know, that horrible knowing, that they were all gone, just gone. I can look at pictures of my own family, over 200 strong who lived mainly in Lithuania, who were gone, slaughtered, dropped into a mass grave outside their villages, killed as a partisan, burned and gassed. These are cousins and aunts and people I never got to know. This is my namesake. This is what the day is about, but remember, Hatikvah and Shabbat were observed immediately upon liberation not only in Bergen Belsen but elsewhere as well.
So tomorrow nite come to the Traditions at the Morse and sit in on their ceremony. I go every year. You should too.
REMEMBER Z'CHOR GDANK
WE ARE HERE AND WILL REMAIN SO
They have also come back from their proposed graveyards time and time again. How many enemies have chased us, burned us, threatened us with worse and worse, stoned us, gassed us, murdered us for maintaining our identity, just for being Jewish and make no mistake about it - no matter how assimilated one was, how intermarried or distant from any open observance of Jewish ritual - you were a Jew and subject to their fate. Throughout history we have outlived these enemies, from the beginning of time till now and we will continue to do so, but why must this always be a battle for survival?
Jews have long felt that they had a safe place in England. They forgot that there is a strong basis of anti - Semitic feeling in Britain. Remember, Edward II expelled them from England but first made sure to take all their funds and even burn them in York. It was not till centuries later that Jews were officially allowed back into England - centuries.
And now, what has changed? Well, we are not being burned - yet - and maybe not so far off if the plans of the radical Islamists gain stronger roots and adherents there. But we do not even have to wait for the Islamists, not when the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbin has waved that flag quite strongly. Publicly, over the past two months, they have suspended members, from candidates for office to those already there, and when their posts and statements grew too outrageous even for others to read, and Jews and others protested, suddenly these people were suspended and an "investigation" promised. Now it turns out that dozens have been suspended, over 50 on Monday nite alone!!! But this is a dirty little secret that had to come to the top, rise to the top like the scum it is. One does not need an "investigation" to know and understand that there is a rotten core here, certainly within the Labour Party. They have even sent hate posts to their own MP and why? Because she is Jewish. There is no excuse for this, no reasons - but I do get it. The hate is eternal, no reasons necessary and that is a fact that has come out of history. And the stories in the NY Times? Good luck finding them.
The lies, the canards, the vicious hatred, the bloodlust - all that, but there is more. Go on YouTube and type in Hatikvah at Bergen - Belsen, read a book by Elie Wiesel, surf YouTube for more stories of survivors and faith and heroism, read any of the genre of the Holocaust from fiction to non fiction, attend a Witness Theater production, listen to a recording by a survivor - and you will hear the truth and the courage and the hope and the guts and the determination and yes, the story of the Eternal Jew in a positive manner, not in a hateful rant filled with bloodlust and murder aforethought.
Tomorrow nite begins the observance of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. In Israel there are events, commemorations, televised stories and interviews, a reminding of the newer generations why they are there, how they got there and the purpose of Israel, its function not only as a modern state, a full partner in the world, but also still as a place of refuge for Jews still running for their lives, still being persecuted, killed, blown up - even here in Florida there was a plot to blow up a shul in Miami. In Israel they remember, and at 11 the sirens wail and the country comes to a halt. Cars stop on the highways, on the streets and the drivers stand by their cars. People stop mid footstep and stand, in silence, heads down, remembering the six million but also those of the future unborn, the generations stolen from us. All that has been that should not have been. Those survivors still with us remember the drastic change in their lives from one year to the next. I, personally, find it haunting to look at large pictures of groups, families, classes, clubs and know, that horrible knowing, that they were all gone, just gone. I can look at pictures of my own family, over 200 strong who lived mainly in Lithuania, who were gone, slaughtered, dropped into a mass grave outside their villages, killed as a partisan, burned and gassed. These are cousins and aunts and people I never got to know. This is my namesake. This is what the day is about, but remember, Hatikvah and Shabbat were observed immediately upon liberation not only in Bergen Belsen but elsewhere as well.
So tomorrow nite come to the Traditions at the Morse and sit in on their ceremony. I go every year. You should too.
After Liberation: Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust
Yom HaShoah Community Commemoration
Wednesday, May 4, 2016 — 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.
The Tradition of the Palm Beaches • 4920 Loring Drive • West Palm Beach
561.242.6671 or mary.greco@jewishpalmbeach.org Register to attend.
REMEMBER Z'CHOR GDANK
WE ARE HERE AND WILL REMAIN SO
Monday, May 2, 2016
I DO NOT GET IT. DO YOU?
Just reading the paper yesterday and today drove me nuts. I just do not get some of the things that are going on and why people do not see the truth or is it just a case of willful blindness and rejection of the truth? I just do not get it. History has proven that the truth will out, even if it takes years, so why avoid it in the first place. As a truly lazy person, I like getting things done quickly and efficiently so that we can get on with the important things in life, such as reading, swimming, movies, good TV drama, hugs with the kids - the good stuff.
So.....why did it take three years to pave the bus stop closest to me? I dunno, but thank you, Don, for at least getting it done.
Why is there not an uproar in the Arab world of terrorism or the Moslem world of terrorism, when the obvious inequities of life are in the papers. What, you might ask? Well, the relatives of the leaders of Hamas, of Hezbollah, of Abbas of the PLO, are treated in Israel when there is a medical need and yes, that oh so awful and racist state of Israel goes ahead and treats and heals these people! Oh, and the little people, you know, the plain old terrorists? Well. They and theirs have to deal with the poor care of their fellow Arabs unless they are lucky enough to get wounded or ill near an Israeli border and get taken over into an Israeli hospital. How do I know that? Because my cousin, a chief surgeon of a department in a hospital in Israel, tells me of the surgeries that are being done there!
Oh, one more thing. You know how these terroristic wars just suck up the young, the boys and the girls, from Arab countries, from Moslem countries, from Europe and the USA and now even from the Caribbean and who knows, there is a huge Palestinian population in South America. but the sons of Hezbollah leaders - uh uh. They are sent off to safe lands, in Europe and no immigration desperation for them, uh uh. This I get, but why do the others allow this? Do not get that.
As for Iran? We suck up to them, buy things such as heavy water so they cannot advance their nuclear program - which they are not supposed to be doing anyway, excuse their violations, and then sit by and quietly ignore the calls of their Supreme Leader (love their self given titles, don't ya?) calls for the destruction of the USA as the biggest evil and then of their devil follower, and back up, Israel. Just do not get it, how we sit by and do nothing and release their funds and whatever.
How about the fact that the Bitcoin inventor is really Australian and not Japanese. That was an alias that he took on. Why? Who knows. Another thing I do not get.
I do not get why we in the world ignore the fires of war all over the world and concentrate on others. For example. Just read of the war in The Democratic Republic of the Congo, a true misnomer if I ever heard one, a war between the pygmies, you know, those shorter stature people of the jungle, the hunter - gatherers of the movies we all watched in our younger days. Well, they are fighting for their very existence and what does the world do? YAWN, YAWN.
And remember those kidnapped schoolgirls, taken by Boko Haram, raped, enslaved and turned into walking bombs/?Yup, them. Well, supposedly the USA says they know where they are but not all so they cannot jump in and rescue them because they are worried about the missing ones. That is the same circular reasoning - or worse - when the train tracks and the crematoria of Auschwitz were not bombed because some of the prisoners might be hurt. Really? For real? Oh, I am sure the Hungarian Jews who were being rushed to their deaths were so glad that the world allowed them to die in the chambers and ovens rather than by a bomb that might have saved close to a million more. Actually, this one I unfortunately get. Figure it out for yourselves. Not too difficult.
Millions of dollars of poached ivory taken from noble elephants was burned to show the world that people are serious about protecting the elephants. Unh huh. So why burn it. Hold an auction for charity, to raise funds to hire more Rangers to watch for poachers, do something other than burning it in a wasteful show. When poachers are caught here, their meat is confiscated and then, not burned, but given to people who need food, personally or through food pantries. Makes more sense to me. I just do not get it.
Why are there "refugees" from a land which never existed, "Palestine" over 70 years later, when all these Arab countries, their brethren, could not absorb them? Really? How many refugees did Israel absorb, penniless, frightened, thrown out of Arab countries without their belongings, people taken from countries years behind in education and knowledge and made these people into an integral part of a new country? Why is it that one country can do all this but several countries cannot? And why not? Hmmmm. Actually, this one also I do get!
Why is it that all we hear these days in local news is of fatal accidents on land and sea and of shootings, shootings, shootings. What are people doing with themselves? Do not get it.
And how about the election for President of the USA. Yup, still the most powerful country in the West and yet we have a bunch of bozos running to be its next leader, its next head of government. Lordy, Lordy. What hath G-d wrought here? Have we no one else? Perhaps if we demanded more of our leaders initially, we would not have such poor specimens coming to the fore when their time is ripe! Or is it the way we invade privacy or the way we rank what is important? Just do not get it - nor do I know how to improve the situation either.
Just do not get the recent spate of articles - and going to be lots more - as people begin to write and debate of Obama's legacy. His legacy? He has none. He took a wonderful opportunity, a historic moment, and turned it to ashes. I believe he is going to be ranked one of the worst presidents ever, right near Carter. What a waste of years and opportunities. What a disappointment. When he spoke here in the Village I thought there was a hope- more fool I.
Why, when the world has just a few problems that truly need to be worked on, does the world obsess with the most ridiculous topics ever. What, you might ask? Well, what about Prince? Truly, was there ever such a ridiculous fuss made about how this man died. Like many other people of the show business world, he died under allegedly questionable circumstances with drug involvement, pain issues and the person is deified? The guy was weird! Period! He died. Period. That is the end of all mankind. No one gets out of it unless you are Jon Snow of Game of Thrones! But this is the real world. Just do not get it.
Why and what was the obsession about Beyoncé and Jay Z. Perhaps the album is going to be very good - have not listened to any of it yet, but truly, is this all we had to hear when the TV was opened or the talk shows played on the radio? Who gives a crap about their on and off again romance, the violence or not of it. How many times must we give airplay and time. How many more people will die as they get into this world and think that any publicity is good publicity. I am still mourning the waste of a life, a talent, of Whitney Houston and how her loss extended to her daughter and the husband? I just do not get it.
Why does this UCO never seem to get anything done around here? We are shown a picture of reclaimed water coming into the Village and does anyone look at the place? It is crammed with dry branches and other detritus. Does anyone look at the water? Hey, maybe we need to get people from Flint to explain to us what happens when water is neglected. At least we are not drinking this stuff and never mind the stuff when it sprays on you - get over it! What is a little bit of tainted water, huh?
For that matter, why does this Village still have an antiquated and unfair system of election which deprives so many of a voice? Just like what is going on now on the outside, an attempted manner in which to take people off the voting rolls. Politics!! Just do not get it and for that matter, do not get how people will ignore their own needs and the truth and follow blindly a "leader" who is simply not only not good for them but actually bad for them. Do not get it at all.
And do not get why a certain someone is in the office at midnight - or even in his home - posting IFIs. Get a life. Make a friend. Breathe the air. Take a walk. Read a book. Go to a show. Play a game. Chat with the universe. Just do not get it.
Do not get it why a broken fence is blamed on a person, some mythological person, who is able to scale a fence, never mind the bushes and foliage around, and do this unseen every day, climb down the other side and repeat ad infinitum. Really and truly! I would love to see this powerful and invisible senior. Hey, maybe we have a superhero in our midst and if it is not a senior - then why is that person here in the first place? The fence just needs replacing. That whole area is. Marcia Ziccardy has been telling people of this for years but does anyone in UCO listen? Nope, so we have our fence scaler. Uh huh!! Do not get it.
And finally, who the hell cares where Malia Obama is going to college? Harvard is a rebellion? Gimme a break! Do not get it.
So.....why did it take three years to pave the bus stop closest to me? I dunno, but thank you, Don, for at least getting it done.
Why is there not an uproar in the Arab world of terrorism or the Moslem world of terrorism, when the obvious inequities of life are in the papers. What, you might ask? Well, the relatives of the leaders of Hamas, of Hezbollah, of Abbas of the PLO, are treated in Israel when there is a medical need and yes, that oh so awful and racist state of Israel goes ahead and treats and heals these people! Oh, and the little people, you know, the plain old terrorists? Well. They and theirs have to deal with the poor care of their fellow Arabs unless they are lucky enough to get wounded or ill near an Israeli border and get taken over into an Israeli hospital. How do I know that? Because my cousin, a chief surgeon of a department in a hospital in Israel, tells me of the surgeries that are being done there!
Oh, one more thing. You know how these terroristic wars just suck up the young, the boys and the girls, from Arab countries, from Moslem countries, from Europe and the USA and now even from the Caribbean and who knows, there is a huge Palestinian population in South America. but the sons of Hezbollah leaders - uh uh. They are sent off to safe lands, in Europe and no immigration desperation for them, uh uh. This I get, but why do the others allow this? Do not get that.
As for Iran? We suck up to them, buy things such as heavy water so they cannot advance their nuclear program - which they are not supposed to be doing anyway, excuse their violations, and then sit by and quietly ignore the calls of their Supreme Leader (love their self given titles, don't ya?) calls for the destruction of the USA as the biggest evil and then of their devil follower, and back up, Israel. Just do not get it, how we sit by and do nothing and release their funds and whatever.
How about the fact that the Bitcoin inventor is really Australian and not Japanese. That was an alias that he took on. Why? Who knows. Another thing I do not get.
I do not get why we in the world ignore the fires of war all over the world and concentrate on others. For example. Just read of the war in The Democratic Republic of the Congo, a true misnomer if I ever heard one, a war between the pygmies, you know, those shorter stature people of the jungle, the hunter - gatherers of the movies we all watched in our younger days. Well, they are fighting for their very existence and what does the world do? YAWN, YAWN.
And remember those kidnapped schoolgirls, taken by Boko Haram, raped, enslaved and turned into walking bombs/?Yup, them. Well, supposedly the USA says they know where they are but not all so they cannot jump in and rescue them because they are worried about the missing ones. That is the same circular reasoning - or worse - when the train tracks and the crematoria of Auschwitz were not bombed because some of the prisoners might be hurt. Really? For real? Oh, I am sure the Hungarian Jews who were being rushed to their deaths were so glad that the world allowed them to die in the chambers and ovens rather than by a bomb that might have saved close to a million more. Actually, this one I unfortunately get. Figure it out for yourselves. Not too difficult.
Millions of dollars of poached ivory taken from noble elephants was burned to show the world that people are serious about protecting the elephants. Unh huh. So why burn it. Hold an auction for charity, to raise funds to hire more Rangers to watch for poachers, do something other than burning it in a wasteful show. When poachers are caught here, their meat is confiscated and then, not burned, but given to people who need food, personally or through food pantries. Makes more sense to me. I just do not get it.
Why are there "refugees" from a land which never existed, "Palestine" over 70 years later, when all these Arab countries, their brethren, could not absorb them? Really? How many refugees did Israel absorb, penniless, frightened, thrown out of Arab countries without their belongings, people taken from countries years behind in education and knowledge and made these people into an integral part of a new country? Why is it that one country can do all this but several countries cannot? And why not? Hmmmm. Actually, this one also I do get!
Why is it that all we hear these days in local news is of fatal accidents on land and sea and of shootings, shootings, shootings. What are people doing with themselves? Do not get it.
And how about the election for President of the USA. Yup, still the most powerful country in the West and yet we have a bunch of bozos running to be its next leader, its next head of government. Lordy, Lordy. What hath G-d wrought here? Have we no one else? Perhaps if we demanded more of our leaders initially, we would not have such poor specimens coming to the fore when their time is ripe! Or is it the way we invade privacy or the way we rank what is important? Just do not get it - nor do I know how to improve the situation either.
Just do not get the recent spate of articles - and going to be lots more - as people begin to write and debate of Obama's legacy. His legacy? He has none. He took a wonderful opportunity, a historic moment, and turned it to ashes. I believe he is going to be ranked one of the worst presidents ever, right near Carter. What a waste of years and opportunities. What a disappointment. When he spoke here in the Village I thought there was a hope- more fool I.
Why, when the world has just a few problems that truly need to be worked on, does the world obsess with the most ridiculous topics ever. What, you might ask? Well, what about Prince? Truly, was there ever such a ridiculous fuss made about how this man died. Like many other people of the show business world, he died under allegedly questionable circumstances with drug involvement, pain issues and the person is deified? The guy was weird! Period! He died. Period. That is the end of all mankind. No one gets out of it unless you are Jon Snow of Game of Thrones! But this is the real world. Just do not get it.
Why and what was the obsession about Beyoncé and Jay Z. Perhaps the album is going to be very good - have not listened to any of it yet, but truly, is this all we had to hear when the TV was opened or the talk shows played on the radio? Who gives a crap about their on and off again romance, the violence or not of it. How many times must we give airplay and time. How many more people will die as they get into this world and think that any publicity is good publicity. I am still mourning the waste of a life, a talent, of Whitney Houston and how her loss extended to her daughter and the husband? I just do not get it.
Why does this UCO never seem to get anything done around here? We are shown a picture of reclaimed water coming into the Village and does anyone look at the place? It is crammed with dry branches and other detritus. Does anyone look at the water? Hey, maybe we need to get people from Flint to explain to us what happens when water is neglected. At least we are not drinking this stuff and never mind the stuff when it sprays on you - get over it! What is a little bit of tainted water, huh?
For that matter, why does this Village still have an antiquated and unfair system of election which deprives so many of a voice? Just like what is going on now on the outside, an attempted manner in which to take people off the voting rolls. Politics!! Just do not get it and for that matter, do not get how people will ignore their own needs and the truth and follow blindly a "leader" who is simply not only not good for them but actually bad for them. Do not get it at all.
And do not get why a certain someone is in the office at midnight - or even in his home - posting IFIs. Get a life. Make a friend. Breathe the air. Take a walk. Read a book. Go to a show. Play a game. Chat with the universe. Just do not get it.
Do not get it why a broken fence is blamed on a person, some mythological person, who is able to scale a fence, never mind the bushes and foliage around, and do this unseen every day, climb down the other side and repeat ad infinitum. Really and truly! I would love to see this powerful and invisible senior. Hey, maybe we have a superhero in our midst and if it is not a senior - then why is that person here in the first place? The fence just needs replacing. That whole area is. Marcia Ziccardy has been telling people of this for years but does anyone in UCO listen? Nope, so we have our fence scaler. Uh huh!! Do not get it.
And finally, who the hell cares where Malia Obama is going to college? Harvard is a rebellion? Gimme a break! Do not get it.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
AND SO IT ENDS.......
And so it ends, the getting out of here on time day after a wonderful week and a half with family and friends. The appreciation of the kids, in both direction, from kids to adults and adults to kids, the wonderful daily adventures even if it turned out more hectic than planned. So what if I need a vacation now from the vacation! Not that that will ever happen, but wishes and dreams, you know!
Thank the Lord above it was quiet in Israel, several plots foiled and everyone there also had a great time. Even here in the USA there was a bit of a ratcheting down of the political noise as the lines are shifting and people need to figure out where they stand and where they draw the line. Does one support someone just because that someone is ostensibly a member of your party and yet you disagree on major principles? It is a time when people have to draw their own lines in their own souls and vote with their heads and not the resentments that will create a foolish and perhaps even dangerous vote and end situation.
Well, just took a two minute break to wake people up so we get to the airport on time. Not fun!! Trust me, not a thank you or cheery good morning in the lot!!
What does bother me was the increase in anti Semitic statements coming out of Europe and the rising tide in Britain. The Labour Party is rife with it and the statements coming out of the mouths of leaders!!!! are absolutely medieval in content and intent. Just where and when does it end? Immediately after the holiday of freedom, a holiday where we celebrate our nationhood, we have the challenges all over again. Why, I wonder, is it so difficult for the world to realize that Israel is a Jewish state - and accept that as a fact, an eternal fact. Why is it so difficult to see the necessity of defense and the wishes of the nation's parents that their children do not have to march off to war again, do not have to worry that someone is out to kidnap them? Why does everyone never ever mention the fact that they are still sending over rockets aimed at population centers even as Israel holds back. Why does no one ever say aha! that knock on the roof worked so well that the US adopted it too! Why does a LGBT organization join with a BDS group when it is that group's favorite countries that will hang these very same LGBTs or throw them off a roof, or torture and mutilate them?
I have no answers other than the willful blindness of people and we see that in all sorts of situations, public and private, big cities and small towns (ahem), nationally and internationally.
For today though, I have a simple goal - get all out on time with all their belongings and not too much for us to drag with us when we check through the house here. I want to hear that they are at the gate, the plane is there, they are boarding and get a call when they land and then when they are home. Simple but major, are they not?
Life. A plethora of questions and conundrums. Answers? Not so plentiful and true ones are often ignored - at our peril. At least I know that I closed out the holiday with a special meal in honor of my mom and spoke well, I believe, about her and other mothers. I feel good about that and know that she and my dad were listening in and smiling. Love you guys. Miss you. Always.
Thank the Lord above it was quiet in Israel, several plots foiled and everyone there also had a great time. Even here in the USA there was a bit of a ratcheting down of the political noise as the lines are shifting and people need to figure out where they stand and where they draw the line. Does one support someone just because that someone is ostensibly a member of your party and yet you disagree on major principles? It is a time when people have to draw their own lines in their own souls and vote with their heads and not the resentments that will create a foolish and perhaps even dangerous vote and end situation.
Well, just took a two minute break to wake people up so we get to the airport on time. Not fun!! Trust me, not a thank you or cheery good morning in the lot!!
What does bother me was the increase in anti Semitic statements coming out of Europe and the rising tide in Britain. The Labour Party is rife with it and the statements coming out of the mouths of leaders!!!! are absolutely medieval in content and intent. Just where and when does it end? Immediately after the holiday of freedom, a holiday where we celebrate our nationhood, we have the challenges all over again. Why, I wonder, is it so difficult for the world to realize that Israel is a Jewish state - and accept that as a fact, an eternal fact. Why is it so difficult to see the necessity of defense and the wishes of the nation's parents that their children do not have to march off to war again, do not have to worry that someone is out to kidnap them? Why does everyone never ever mention the fact that they are still sending over rockets aimed at population centers even as Israel holds back. Why does no one ever say aha! that knock on the roof worked so well that the US adopted it too! Why does a LGBT organization join with a BDS group when it is that group's favorite countries that will hang these very same LGBTs or throw them off a roof, or torture and mutilate them?
I have no answers other than the willful blindness of people and we see that in all sorts of situations, public and private, big cities and small towns (ahem), nationally and internationally.
For today though, I have a simple goal - get all out on time with all their belongings and not too much for us to drag with us when we check through the house here. I want to hear that they are at the gate, the plane is there, they are boarding and get a call when they land and then when they are home. Simple but major, are they not?
Life. A plethora of questions and conundrums. Answers? Not so plentiful and true ones are often ignored - at our peril. At least I know that I closed out the holiday with a special meal in honor of my mom and spoke well, I believe, about her and other mothers. I feel good about that and know that she and my dad were listening in and smiling. Love you guys. Miss you. Always.
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