BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

ACT NOW ISRAEL! The time's come for Israel to act. Swiftly. Decisively. Hamas is on a non-negotiable path to all out war. That's what they want. Let me repeat my mantra - WATCH THE ACTIONS NOT THE WORDS. The daily kassams into Gaza aren't enough to prove this? Then how about years & years of broken promises and 'negotiating' while they continue to arm themselves. While a Gaza invasion would costly for the IDF, something has to happen or Hamas will continue to bleed Israel while arming for its annihilation. Time for action, Israel. The temptation of immediate fortification By Israel Harel The education minister said that opening the school year in Sderot is conditional on the defense minister's signing a guarantee for the pupils' security. The angry response to her statement - to the effect, "why doesn't she guarantee to rid schools of violence?" - is unjustified. However, it is justified to demand - after eight years of Qassam rockets

LIMITED BLOGGING AHEAD Due to personal health issues - I won't be home and will be doing limited if any blogging for the next week. I will be back shortly. I hope.

AMERICA'S BATTERED WIFE SYNDROME The first time I read this, it took my breath away - reading it again in light of the last few years of political & social changes in the U.S., it still does. Dear America As a friend of the family I can’t sit back and watch you do this to yourself without saying something. Consider this a long distance intervention. Your man is no good. He treats you like crap, lies to you, abuses you, bullies you, exploits you, takes your money. As a friend I want to tell you that you deserve better. You deserve a person that treats you with respect, cares about your welfare, and your children’s welfare, but that’s not George and it never will be. Do you tell yourself that he’ll stop, or that it won’t get worse? He won’t ever stop, every insult, injury and death he has caused are a line that once crossed will never be uncrossed. Forget the dream. You will never have the American dream with George. You have to forget about what might have been, what George migh

MORE HYPOCRISY FROM FALAFAL BOY Hypocrisy makes me laugh. And no one is easier to laugh at than Bill O'Reilly. My nightmare is that he and Ann Coulter have an affair and produce a love child who runs for President and wins. EEWWW!! Historically the biggest moralizers often end up being the biggest pervs. O'Reilly's 15 minutes was up a long time ago, yet Fox keeps him around as their resident 'creature of infinite jest' (apologies to Shakespeare!). Let's check out Falafal-Boy's latest: O'Reilly: "I think everybody's got to relax on all this gay stuff" Summary: When a viewer email questioned his previous remarks that Bill Richardson "looked bad by saying he believed homosexuality was a choice," Fox News' Bill O'Reilly responded, "I think everybody's got to relax on all this gay stuff." O'Reilly has repeatedly demonstrated his own inability to "relax on all this gay stuff" with a history of con

LEFT "JUST NOW" DISCUSSING FAITH? CNN = WRONG! I no longer belong to any party but I am more left on affairs at home and more right on affairs abroad. How can any media outlet, particularly CNN - say the Dems never discussed faith. I was at the Spiritual Progressives Conference in Washington, DC last year and I have been a news-junkie for years. Faith is discussed ALL - THE - TIME. This is part of the neocons still trying to frame Dems (and anyone who doesn't drink their kool-aid) as godless, golden calf worshippers and priviledged pretty boys. At least they aren't hijacking it like the Bush campaigns did - and calling the US a "CHRISTIAN NATION." And it's dead wrong. CNN reporters falsely suggested Democrats are only now talking about religious beliefs and values Summary: On June 4 and 5, several CNN correspondents suggested that, until recently, Democrats have largely been silent on their religious beliefs and "values," ignoring the f

Tales from the Tombs of Israel Judith Fein It certainly seemed odd. People who were otherwise sane, intelligent, and credible would travel to the part of northern Israel known as the Galilee to pray at the tomb of the first-century rabbi Jonathan ben Uziel. Afterward, they would rapturously report that they had met their soul mates and gotten married. Since I was in the vicinity of the tomb, I decided to check out the departed matchmaker. Fortified with a healthy dose of skepticism, I entered the tsyun, a low, whitewashed building made of local rocks, cement, earth, and stones. Inside, the sepulcher was draped in dark velvet. On the women’s side — men and women are separated in Orthodox Judaism — some prayed earnestly from Hebrew prayer books and several deposited coins and bills into charity tins. Some left offerings, including bright-colored cloth, silk and chiffon scarves, plastic hair ornaments, and underpants. Underpants? I walked back outside more amused than inspired. When my hu

“MAKING AMENDS” (something for Elul) Phyllis B. Grodsky, Ph.D One day I was with my mother in front of her building when an older man came by. He was carrying a shopping bag full of groceries, and appeared to have difficulty walking. When he saw my mother he changed course, tipped his well-worn cap, and headed straight towards us. He was smiling broadly and about to greet her when she abruptly turned her back, and stiffened her face until it looked ashen. The gentleman waved his hand and went on his way, seemingly unperturbed. I guessed, correctly, that he was her neighbor, Mr. Dutke, a man about her age who was born in Germany. She seemed aggrieved that Mr. Dutke approached her in a friendly manner, and said she wasn’t fooled; she “knew” he was a Nazi. When I asked if she had ever discussed his past with him, she said she hadn’t, but it didn’t matter because she “knew” what he was. My mother clings to opinions like a life raft, as if all would be lost if she were to let go. She doesn’

Self-satisfaction or Self-delusion? Someone who has never struggled, never experienced disappointments, can never truly connect with G-d or His Torah. Self-grandeur and aggrandisement preclude one from approaching the Divine. The scars the world has inflicted upon us, the vestiges of battles fought and temptations overcome are the entry fees to the Kingdom of G-d. Read this in its entirety here PLEASE CLICK HERE TO JBLOG ME

Any of this sound like people running a country near you??? The Power Patterns: Sharks, Impactors, Controllers, Dominators The Impactor The Impactor primarily wants to know that they have the ability to affect you in some way. They need to influence their environment, have an impact. Their greatest fear is that they are invisible and powerless. The impact doesn't have to be positive. In fact, they will most often resort to negative impact because the result is so much greater. If you do something good, you might get a few words of praise, a smile, or a hug, all of which are usually over in a minute or two. If you do something bad, the impact could last days! Just visit some of the forums and watch the impactors at work, creating pages and pages of responses with just one flaming message. What an impact they are having! And then you'll usually see them sitting calmly in the middle of the storm they've created. If they can make you lose control, they're ecstatic. The wors

MY THANKS TO CARNIVAL OF THE LIBERALS! ...for my mention on their DOG DAYS edition. Carnivals always give me so much more new reading ...and keep me addicted to blogging. READ IT HERE. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO JBLOG ME