Courageous Conversation

A friend of mine sent me a Facebook article this past week. The topic was the Holocaust and the furor (bad pun) and foment that was caused by the condoning by Facebook of Holocaust denial groups and all of the vitriol that went along with them. I will include the link at the end of this blog so that you can see for yourself. The author is not a Holocaust denier by any means and in fact has several good points that I agree with despite my liberal leanings.

But let me deal with this issue of Facebook and the deniers. OK these folks are crazy. I think any person who can say that the Holocaust never happened or that only 200,000 Jews were killed (their words the people were murdered period) is out of their mind, ignorant, stupid or all three and unable to read.
Aside from what I think of those miscreants, my issue goes deeper. I am a user of Facebook, my friends are users too and I think that it is a good thing to do for a whole host of reasons BUT. There is always a BUT. Facebook has rules called Terms of Use (I have them too). When you sign on you have to agree that you will not write or post items (links or pictures or videos ) that will, as Facebook says, “you can not post any content that is hateful, threatening….” It goes on to say, “you will not use Face book to do anything unlawful, misleading, malicious, or discriminating.” I propose that Facebook violated their own terms of use by allowing the posting of the argument and thereby tacitly agreeing to its content.

In addition when you join one existing Holocaust group there exists a caveat at the end of the group description states that groups that attack a person or group of people or who espouse racist, sexist or other hate related groups will not be tolerated and that there will be a loss of the account. Interestingly, of all the groups that I belong to on FB, this is the only one on which this notice appears. Is it because their icon is the yellow star with Jude in the center? Is it because their information is in Hebrew? I have no idea. Many of the groups that I belong to, both public and private, are involved in the Holocaust. In fact one that I have started (a private one) is entitled Yad Vashemites; that caveat is not attached to the end of the description.
I do not understand whose definitions we are using for the terms HATE and OFFENSIVE. However, as Brian Cuban (brother of Mark and the attorney challenging Facebook at present) has learned “…groups are offensive but is discussing enough to cause removal.” (Barry Schnitt, Facebook spokesperson).
Schnitt also stated in another interview, “…we want it to be a place where people can discuss all kinds of ideas including controversial ones.” All right this is America and I believe in free speech and so forth, but that does not give me the right to instill fear in people or cause riot like behavior (yelling fire in a movie type thing). That is offensive to me and to the Constitution of the United States. This may be overly simple- minded of me but if the policy as stated says that hateful and offensive groups and comment are not tolerated then how is it that those who put up groups filled with vitriolic Holocaust denial are allowed to stay?

In defense of FB they did remove a couple of groups but the policy still remains and according to Schnitt, “Denying the Holocaust is not a violation of our terms.”

In researching this commentary I have read several of the links that are attached to the first article that was sent to me. One of them equated Holocaust denial with Jew Hating. The writer said that what these groups are really saying is that Hitler’s job was not finished and we (the denial group) need to do so. The author also pointed out that the Holocaust started in much the same way; foment hate, create propaganda and push the issue.

There is no place for hatred of any kind on the Internet. Yes, there should be discussion but when that discussion leads to fear, hatemongering and threats to the existence of a people then it is time to put the conversation to an end. Discourse is one thing language that incites people to seek out the worst in themselves as human beings is yet another.

I am still puzzled about the whole idea of FB though. The spokespeople keep saying this is a social networking site, well unless I speak a different version of English that means that intelligent conversation is out of the question.

Here is the link to the first article:
http://techwag.com/index.php/2009/05/12/facebook-and-the-holocaust/

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Drinking coffee and contemplating the state of human nature, I have discovered that as people we are not exactly the best. Think about it for a minute. When there is a tragedy we go tsk tsk tsk how sad and change the channel or turn the page and go on tot the next item. When we witness an event like an accident we rubberneck. Oh you now slow down look and think about how much it will cost. If a person slips and falls we laugh. When there is a fight we run to it likes moths to a flame and we chant “Fight” Fight” to egg on the combatants. And yes when there is discrimination or other forms of diminishment of life we look on, go back to our circles of comfort, mutter about how sad it is, BUT WE DO NOTHING.
This is or should be nothing ne to us as human being after all we have been practicing our nature since creation (or since we evolved into speaking beings for those who so believe). We are bystanders. We show outrage amongst our inner circles but we are too afraid to do anything. We are too afraid to take a stand and defend the downtrodden. Now don’t get me wrong I know that there are those who stand up and fight for what is right and defend the weak and the fallen. But friends there are many more who choose to stand to the side and like the ostrich bury their heads in the sand.
In the last century there lived a pastor by the name of Martin Niemoeller. He was a rebellious and popular pastor during the prewar years of WW 2. Hitler had him arrested and placed in concentration camps for protective custody. He was liberated in 1945 and died in 1984.
Niemoeller penned the poem below. Before you read it allow me to say that there have been many corrupted versions but what follows is the original as it was written and recorded by his wife. He was responding to the question by one of his students. “How could it happen?”
“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”
Who speaks today?

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Hello friends. I have nothing to say to anyone today. Seriously there is nothing I feel strongly about enough that I want to expend the mental energy to write about it. That is depressing and I guess you could say that yes I am depressed.
Why? Why do people get depressed on a gorgeous sunny day? The answer, however simplistic is rather childish. No one will play with me. Like when I was a kid and an only child all of my friends came from families with lots of siblings, cousins, neighbors; people. I lived on a street where evened was older, the families large and sadly tons of boys who were at the time not into playing with girls. That was then, what is my excuse now?
I like my own company bit frankly I do not like to go to art festivals or food festivals alone. I have rest assured but I want to share art. I want to see a piece through the eyes of a friend. Perhaps I check to see if I am crazy and see something that is not there or maybe see nothing and wonder if I am not able to see art. I know I can see and appreciate art just not its steep price. I have good art in my home.
Face it places like that are boring to wander around alone. Me I tend to eat too much and buy too much because I have no other set of eyes to urge me on saying will that really fit in your hall or dining area? As for the food, if you eat I will eat if you say lets keep going and eat later where we can sit with real food not junk my waistline and y doctor would appreciate it.
I know there are tons of people out there who are just like me and I wonder what they re doing now. How have they chosen their friend are they the types that will not do much with you because they are selfish and tae care of their own needs? Me? I have chosen mu friends wisely. They are long-term my best friend has known me for 50 years. My other close friends I have known since high school. But they have their families and on the weekend wan to spend time with them. I do not have a problem with that they share with me the time they have. Look I have talked about this before and do not wish to go over previously stomped ground. Horses, which are dead, need to remain that way.
I just vented my frustration yet again and that is ok. This is my blog , I pay for it and I supply it almost exclusively get that dig again you folks who do not write. Look for other stuff later in the week. Have a great rest of the weekend.

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I just finished reading the newly posted article “The Holiest Generation” and I sat here thinking about what defines us. First I have to disagree with the good doctor. I do not believe that the numbers were and are the only things that defined the “Holiest Generation” Not all survivors received numbers. What of the ones in the forests or those children hidden by righteous people in the area of their homes? What of the adults who were sent to factories and work camps who were not numbers. Are those people any less holy?
The survivors’ families who were in what was then called Palestine or what about America or other countries not in the European theatre like Australia or South Africa. They knew what was going on and could do nothing and anguished over the fate of family members some as close as parents or siblings others not. Are they any less holy than the ones with the numbers?

There is no doubt in my mind of the holiness of the numbered survivors; the things they saw and were forced to do not even G-d could endure yet they did. They survived for a reason G-d wanted their message spread. Look t what happens when racism and other hatreds are allowed to fester and run amok unchecked by a world in desperate need of a scapegoat. This is the lesson of the Holocaust. We must learn WHY it happened. What were the reasons obvious and hidden? We must make them public. Survivors’ stories must be told to all regardless of how wretched and vile.
You are thinking WHY. This is old news it is buried along with the dead leave it. Ok sure why not take a good hard look at the world you live in and see what leaving it has done. Today there is Darfur and its horrors. What about Serbia and Bosnia? Even better take a good hard look at the man who avows the destruction of Israel and says that the numbers on arms are a figment of imagination because the Holocaust never happened. His name is Mahmud Achminijad (sp) and I promise you that he embodies pre-war Germany and more. He has every desire to see the Holocaust happen again with him in control and sadly the crematoria fires will be cool compared to the firestorm he has in mind.
So leave it. Every time you hear a person use derogatory language about any one especially those incendiary terms we all love regardless of their race call them on it. When someone is intolerant call him or her on it. Remind them of the fact that the Holocaust spared no one all of the people on Germany Poland all of Europe were victims of the rhetoric of hate and its physical aftermath. It can happen again and it can happen here or anywhere else in the world. It is up to us to do something. I teach the Holocaust and its reasons why through literature and art. WHAT DO YOU DO?

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I could not have been more than 4 or 5 when I asked her. It seemed to me, at the time, to be an innocent, straightforward question: “Mommy, when do I get my number?”

I was, of course, upset when she burst into tears and ran out of the kitchen, but I was also confused. This was Washington Heights in the 1950s. It was an enclave of survivors. Every adult I knew had a number. Even my teenage sister had one in blue ink tattooed on her forearm.

They were as ubiquitous on the benches of Riverside Drive as they were on the footpaths of Fort Tryon Park. If you saw an adult with some sort of hat on his head, he invariably also had a number on his arm. In the summer, when the community traveled en masse to Catskill bungalow colonies, or to Rockaway beaches, the numbers came too.
I presumed it was a ceremonious part of becoming bar mitzvah, or perhaps graduation from Breuer’s or Soloveichik, our local yeshivas. No one appeared to be embarrassed by their number. ARG! I never saw anyone try to cover it up when they went swimming. It seemed to be a matter of fact part of life.

When, as children, we would ask our parents why there was a “Mother’s Day” and a “Father’s Day,” but no “Children’s Day,” the automatic response was “Every day is ‘Children’s Day’!” In Washington Heights, in the ’50s, every day was Yom HaShoah.

Ironically enough, at the same time, no day was Yom HaShoah. The commemoration, as it exists today, was not around then. Breuer’s and Soloveichik consisted almost exclusively of children of survivors, yet neither school had any assembly, or recognition of any type, of the Shoah.

The very word Shoah didn’t exist. The word Holocaust did, but it was never invoked. When on rare occasion our parents would make reference to the events that led them to leave Europe to come to America, they would label it “the War.”

They spoke nostalgically of life “before the War”; they never spoke of what happened during “the War.” They spoke reverently of their parents and siblings who were “lost in the War”; they never spoke of their spouses or children who perished. After all, they had new spouses and new children who didn’t need to be reminded that they were replacements.

I was already bar mitzvah when I first realized that my parents had been previously married and had prior children. Years later I was shocked to discover that my sister with whom I was raised was not my father’s daughter.

When I finally came to understand that not every adult was a survivor, and people would ask me what survivors were really like, I never knew what to answer. There was Mr. Silverberg, our seatmate in shul, as jovial as Santa Claus, who always had a good word for everyone. On the other hand, there was Mr. Grauer, our neighbor whose face was indelibly etched in a frown and was always threatening to hit his wife or his children. In retrospect, as a psychiatrist, I could understand both, but who truly defined what it meant to be a survivor? Did anyone, or anything?
I learned the answer from Rabbi Moshe Feinstein.

This gadol hador, the greatest sage of his generation, was so renowned he was referred to simply as “Rav Moshe.” The closest I came to this legend was at Yeshiva University High School, where my rebbe was his son-in-law, Rabbi Moshe Tendler. Rabbi Tendler, and every other rabbi, would speak of Rav Moshe in awe-stricken tones usually reserved for biblical forefathers.

One summer I was spending a week with my aunt and uncle in upstate Ellenville. Uncle David and Aunt Saba, survivors themselves, as the doctor and nurse in charge of the concentration camp infirmary, had managed to save the lives of innumerable inmates, including my mother and sister.After “the War” they had set up a medical practice in this small Catskill village, where, I discovered, to my amazement, they had one celebrity patient - Rav Moshe.
My aunt mentioned casually that Rav Moshe had an appointment the next day. Would I like to meet him? Would I? It was like asking me, would I like to meet God.

I couldn’t sleep that night. I agonized over what I should wear. Should I approach him? What should I say? Should I mention that his son-in-law was my rebbe? Should I speak to him in English, or my rudimentary Yiddish?

I was seated in the waiting room, in the best clothing I had with me, an hour before his appointment. It seemed like an eternity, but eventually he arrived, accompanied by an assistant at each side. He didn’t notice me.

I was frozen. I had intended to rise deferentially when he entered, but I didn’t. I had prepared a few sentences that I had repeatedly memorized, but I sensed that my heart was beating too quickly for me to speak calmly.

My aunt had heard the chime when he entered and came out of the office to greet him: “Rabbi Feinstein, did you meet my nephew Ikey? Can you believe a shaygitz [unobservant] like me has a yeshiva bochur [student] in the family?”
Rav Moshe finally looked at me. I was mortified. My aunt was addressing him irreverently. She was joking with him. She had called me Ikey, not Yitzchok, or even Isaac.

Then it got even worse. She walked over to him. Surely she knew not to shake his hand. She didn’t. She kissed him affectionately on the cheek as she did many of her favorite patients. She then told him my uncle would see him in a minute and returned to the office.

Rav Moshe and his attendants turned and looked at me, I thought accusingly. I wanted to die. In a panic, I walked over to him and started to apologize profusely: “Rabbi Feinstein, I apologize. My aunt, she isn’t frum [religious]. She doesn’t understand…”

He immediately placed his fingers on my lips to stop me from talking. He then softly spoke two sentences in Yiddish that I will remember to my dying day: “She has numbers on her arms. She is holier than me.”

Rav Moshe had understood what I had not. Our holiest generation was defined by the numbers on their arms.

Dr. Isaac Steven Herschkopf is an attending psychiatrist at the NYU Medical Center and the author of “Hello Darkness, My Old Friend: EmbracingAnger to Heal Your Life.” This excerpt is from a forthcoming memoir.

{The Jewish Week/Matzav.com Newscenter}

Article taken from Matzav.com - The Online Voice of Torah Jewry - http://matzav.com
URL to article: http://matzav.com/the-holiest-generation/

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Today is April 20th and I am getting tired of writing to myself. Yes, I had a comment on the lat pot and I was happy, but really people what do I have to do to get folks to visit my site and respond. This is free. Your opinion, your thoughts, your ideology whatever it is you espouse is welcome here.

This reminds me of the lonely person who eats at the restaurant by themselves. They always eat the early specials or they get the food to go. Mot of the time the to go stuff is for 2 so they do not appear to be eating alone at home. I do not write for 2 however. I write for me when the mood suits me and when I have something to say. Many people think I have too much to talk about well, they are wrong. I do run out of words at times, today is not one of those times.

I prefer to write a medium blog that has some teeth to the tweets on Twitter that suggest snippets of life in a 140-character segment. At work today I talked to a person who was all-agog over the fact that she tweeted with Oprah and Ashton and George (Clooney). They follow me she stated. I thought to myself honey are you in for a shock. In the first place, I highly doubt that the celebrity does the tweeting himself or herself. Could you imagine the sheer number of people who might tweet with you? Oprah would have no time for anything else. See I think this person is lonely and needs to drop names for self-importance.

My blog is lonely. I am not going to drop names (I have none to drop) because I do not believe in digitally talking then telling the world what we discussed in any fashion. I believe in the dignity of a conversation and if anyone desires to maintain an anonymous persona so be it. However, this still does not solve the initial idea for today; why are people not on here. I have linked on FB. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

I guess in the end it really does not matter. Maybe I can string all of these into a novel. Maybe I can publish a book of the loneliest blog on the planet and see what people have to say. If nothing else my writing skills will improve.

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Today is April 19th and it is a beautiful day. Birds are singing, trees and flowers blooming; the earth is coming alive again to regale us with her beauty. (To my friends in the Southern hemisphere old mother earth I exhausted but she has one more show for you. Those in cooler less tropical areas will see the grandeur of autumn. The ret of you get the same stuff you have all year long; so move to North America or Europe and get a dose of real seasonal delight.)

Ok so much for the climatology lessons, lets talk about the Holocaust and its remembrance day on Tuesday. What is your community doing? Will it be on the news? Will anyone pay attention? Are the schools doing something to mark the day? In this country everyone who has died in an out of the ordinary way that was in the least bit important get s a holiday or at he very minimum a mention on the news. Well, what about the 6 million Jews? For that matter what about the entire 14 plus million who died at the hands of the brilliant madman and his friends?

Yes, 14 plus million that includes the innocents the collateral damage and of course the soldiers plus the ones who were slaughtered because of who they were, what they looked like, what they believed, what imperfections they had or who they loved. Silly reasons to kill people don’t you think? I do. But hey for a minute take a look at whether or not they would have killed each other following the same guidelines. On Yom Hashoah (Hebrew term for the day of Holocaust Remembrance) we need to remember all of the victims of the Holocaust not just the Jews (although they certainly deserve the memory and I mourn for the family members I never knew) and then we need to think about the current victims of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

The children of Darfur, the victims of Somalia piracy, the innocents slaughtered in Mumbai and all of the women of Pakistan whoa husbands have the right to rape them at will. Human rights and dignity are but two of the lessons to be learned from the Holocaust and ones we should NEVER FORGET. So get off your conch get up from the computer and DO SOMETHING; NEVER FORGET! NEVEAR FORGET!

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Who is Susan Boyle? An obscure, middle-aged, frumpy looking, woman from Scotland, which is all that could be said of her until this past week. She appeared on Britain’s Got Talent amid snickers and quietly spoken ugly remarks and then she opened her mouth. Never in the lives of so many has such a voice had such an effect. That woman has the voice of an angel. Her voice stirs you from the depths of your soul and you are not ready for it.

Last night she sang a cappella on Larry king Live and let me tell you friends her voice is perfect without the music behind her. He is certainly headed for glory beyond her imagination. The entire world is talking about her and smiling. She is the Rocky Balboa of music and she is basking in this attention. Please harsh cruel, fickle world do not change her allow her to remain the wonderful human being she is. Allow her to hare her gift with us and inspire us to have the confidence to tackle the world.

However, I can also see the roadies, the hangers on if you will. Those people who are kicking their collective chops at her rise and planning their assault on this poor woman whom I will bet has not the first idea what has hit her. I see the lust in their hearts the desire to handle poor Susan. After all she is in desperate need of a makeover and new clothes and all that stuff. People, she needs nothing but a chance to hare herself with all of us. Susan Boyle is fine the way she is. Next time someone like her or even her gets on the stage pay attention, quit judging before the performance is in. remember what happens when you judge a book by its cover you lose the goodies that are waiting for you inside.

This is the purpose of a courageous conversation; to get you to look beyond the cover look at the inside and be surprised. Here at Courageous Conversation this is the place to get out the judgments clear your min so that you can look inside the cover and discover the jewels like Susan Boyle that await you.

• FAME 2009 ... sigh ... :-( With great anticipation, I watched the latest version of Fame and I left the cinema with very mixed feelings. The original movie and TV series had a huge influence in my life; putting an idea into my head that I could dance. It inspired me to live life the way......
• Start A Sunny Day Fund This article originally appeared April 28 of last year, but because I've had a few gloomy days to contend with the last couple weeks, I thought it might be fun to run it it again for some fresh input.  I'm already planning to start a "Sunny Day Fund" or two......
• Ke$ha Breaks Through To The Big Time: A VMA Cheat Sheet! 'Tik Tok' singer/nominee racked up massive digital downloads, opened for Rihanna and survived 'SNL' on road to Video Music Awards.By James Montgomery Ke$ha Photo: Kevin Mazur/ Getty Images She is, without question, one of the biggest breakout stars of 2010. A slurring, whirling, hard-partying pop oddity (who may also be......
• Save It for a Sunny Day The other day I read an excellent article that provides some ideas for things to do with a tax refund. I enjoyed the list because it was outside of the normal, "pay off debt, start an emergency fund" standard listing of things to do with the upcoming tax rebate checks.......
• Personal Finance Credit Crunch Budgets are unfortunately quite the necessary evil when it comes to managing your own personal credit crunch. Everyone is going through a credit crunch, even those who have relatively healthy credit. The only practical way to keep yourself financially stable in this volatile market is to get a grip on......

Today is April 11th and I am bored and lonely. Before you say get up and do something about it, you have to read what I have done. First I have this wonderful, at least it is getting to wonderful site that no one but me and the webmaster seem to see. Next I have gone on the “dating sites” and let me tell you the pickings are slim. I have tired to arrange stuff with friends but they have families and this is a holiday weekend that is heavy into family.
So what happens to the single person who has no family in town and really does not have the option of going to their distant family? I guess they could hook up with their chosen religious institution and pray that there will be a family to invite them for a meal. At that point they can sit around smile politely, pick at their food and feel like the fifth wheel that they are; not belonging and certainly ignorant of all the conversation swirling around them.
Ok so the religion thing is out, hmmmm. How about a visit to the local watering hole? Not being a drinker may present a problem being a bit older may b e another. Do you remember what the bar scene was when you were younger? It has not changed. Remember the older person sitting at the bar by him or herself nursing a beer? Recall saying to yourself that is not going to be me? Guess what it is you. Get off that stool and get out of there pronto.
Try a bookstore I was told. Nice people go to bookstores. The store is open late and you can get a dreadful cup of Starbucks or Seattle’s Best and sit and watch the people come and go, read a book or magazine and see whom you might wish to engage in a chat. I am not sure about you but I am not the type who will go to a person who is reading and strike up a conversation. No way ain’t happening. It is a good way to pass the time and for the price of a coffee and a bit of heartburn you can save money by reading the zines instead of buying them.
What other places can you try to find another person who shares your views on life? Laundromat? Grocery store? I have no idea. If I had the answer I would be on Oprah reeling in the big bucks.
I am going to finish this post it and find a good movie to watch until one of my friends decides to get up and return my call. I prefer the well-worn slipper that fits me to the exciting and scary walk down the path of putting myself out there in the great unknown.
A bit of a different blog today but one that takes courage to admit to and I wonder if anyone out there in cyber land is willing to have a courageous conversation with me about being single and how to cope. I am not looking for a date folks, but friends are always welcome.

• 8 Tips on Saving Money Without Scrimping Retrain your Brain - If you deprive yourself of the things that bring you pleasure, you are going to have trouble saving money. Retrain your brain by visualizing a future that is more fulfilling, like credit card bills that are smaller, and higher savings account balances to give yourself a......
• Work From Home Scams Snag Smart But Desperate People Too! Work from home job offers filling your email box are SCAMS...all of them! I scream, "S-C-A-M" but I can't even get my own friends to hear me. It's desperate people experiencing desperate times that call for desperate (and dangerous) measures. Disclaimer: Okay, maybe not every work-from-home email solicitation is a......
• Cure for Sore Shoulders and Neck Who gets tight, sore muscles in the back of your neck and shoulders? Raise your hands! I do. I get tight knots embedded deep within my muscles that give masseuses a run for their money! (Well, I am paying them, so they better not run until after the massage!) I......
• Three Random Stories (and Personal Finance Links) I thought about not posting the last two stories, but I figured they were entertaining and the kind of thing that I would to read if I were someone else. Not too much personal finance after the first story, so if that's your interest, just jump straight down to the......
• Adventures in Dallas (and how we saved money there) This past week, I took my first trip to Texas. I was kind of excited and kind of nervous as I didn't know what to really expect. I have known only a couple of people from Texas. They wore shirts with slogans on them, like "There are two kinds of......

Today is April 10th, Good Friday and the second day of Passover. I am confused! President Obama, a man for whom I have the utmost respect and best wishes, drives me crazy. The latest has developed over the past week or so. While he was on his European trip, the one that included Turkey, he told an audience that America had no war with Islam and that the Muslims cannot blame Israel for everything and that he supported a 2 state solution to the problem (correct ne if I have these facts incorrect).

He supports a Palestinian state even thought the two sides cannot agree to it. Obama, like past Presidents wants Israel to give up the farm return all the land plus the most holy of places for a supposed peace with a group of people whose bible says to kill the Jew. Not only that bit the charters for their fledgling country also says the Jews should be eliminated to the sea. I too support a Palestinian state bit for different reasons (another blog).
At the same time our President is shown on CNN hosting Passover Seder in the White House, a clear show of support and friendship to his Jewish staffers and friends. Tell me, how does a President show support for Jews but not real support for Israel’s issues with the Palestinians? How can Jews not support Israel, their homeland as stated in the Bible? I know that people will argue with me I hope so! Tell me also how does a President declare that America is not at war with Islam when clearly we are? Separating the Taliban, a group of religious zealots, from their core beliefs (of which extreme Islam is one) is not a good idea.

Remember that the extreme of most faiths strongly dislike our Western lifestyle and culture. We are too free and women have too many rights. Where is the world’s condemnation of the video where the zealots are beating the young woman because she went out of the house improperly escorted? Where is the outrage? Yet, when one of their own says death to Israel and the West the world smiles and nods in agreement and the President of the USA says we are not at war with Islam and tacit statement of support for that kind of threat and that type of treatment to a human being. I am confused.

• Types Of Religion There are two general types of religion and orthodox/institutional religion is by far the most common. Science, atheism, psychology, and these have led to their very own brands of "sin", which was originally just a word meaning error. The second type could be called "living", and even some orthodoxies have......
• Foghorns Outdoors California Recreational Lakes and Rivers -- Book Review When I first purchased my boat I received a copy of Foghorn Outdoors California Recreational Lakes and Rivers: The Complete Guide to Boating, Fishing, and Water Sports (Foghorn Outdoors) from my in laws as a birthday present.  At this point I have read the book cover to cover and I can......
• Harder Than Becoming President Hillary Clinton has found out that being first lady has its challenges, becoming president is not so easy, but hardest of all may be going to the Middle Easte and being liked by all. In just a matter of days she has needed adjustment in her rhetoric as she met......
• Israel Betrayed by President's Shift on US Middle East Policy [/caption] WASHINGTON: Obama's willingness to offend our allies while coddling our enemies is doing tremendous damage to long-standing alliances that have been in place during both Democratic and Republican administrations. Obama highlighted his shift in Middle East policy in a news conference on April 13th: It was just a phrase......
• One Of The Reasons I Wrote Solstice Surrender (Not the Obvious, Either) by Tracy Cooper-Posey, guest blogger and author of Solstice Surrender. I was sitting staring out the front windows this morning, looking at the winter landscape before my husband headed off to work and I headed down to my office, and I remembered one of the reasons I wrote Solstice......