Israel and Palestinian Cease Fire

The land of Israel is a turbulent one.  The Palestinians in Gaza have a much different take on the future of Jerusalem and the entire region than does the Israelis.  At least this is true for the Hamas which has taken control of the Palestinian authority.  How else should the Jewish land of Israel react to decades of threats and violence?

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We can argue Middle East history till dawn and beyond but what cannot be disputed is the fact that the Jewish people have been under constant threat of annihilation for thousands of years.  It is true that the nations have converged against Israel.  If you were a trapped animal wouldn't your survival instincts take over?  It's the same here only the Israeli people still put their faith in that Higher Power to sustain them and to justify them in the end.

There is a point of "enough is enough" and the pursuit of engaging the enemy must and should progress till the end.  In any conflict there will be innocent casualties.  HOWEVER, let us not forget which side uses their own people as shields not only to protect their own weapons but also to gain global sympathy.  Let's not forget that as the world readily condemns Israel for the massive amounts of innocent dead.  Let us not forget!

Being of the tribe of Manasseh I am proud to have the association of Israel.  The Palestinian people are blessed as well but the world needs to understand that we all have the right to survive as long as we covenant to coexist in peace.  Being all our planet, those who cannot sustain the foundation of coexistence should be suppressed in their expansion of terrorism and moral decay.

The Hamas tunnels are an imminent threat toward Israel.  The operation of Israel's offensive is to render mute these tunnels.  It is my belief that Israel has the right, and obligation to it's people, to expand their offensive until the mission is declared finished.

I am all for the cease fires that have and continue to take place.  It should be used by both sides as an opportunity to reflect on the right course of action not for the present but rather for the long term.  It is to bury the dead with dignity and tend to the lame and infirm.  It is to assess the future of both peoples.  Will the cease fire hold in the end.  Probably not any time soon.  The religious extreme and anti-Semitism is strong and has a foundation on many people.  To learn to coexist is to have a personal conversion to a light they've never known.

Hoorah Israel is my take, but hoorah true peace is my hope and prayer.

Slovakia Eastern Europe: Destruction or Destiny

Parts of Eastern Slovakia suffered a devastating forestry loss during a storm in the first part of 2014.  Its estimated that 40% of the landmass of Slovakia is forest.  As evidence, the economy suffered and recovery is slow.  Two separate storms within a week both wreaked havoc with extremely rare wind velocities.  Slovakia borders Ukraine on the east, Poland on the north and Hungary on the south.  All the media attention was centered on Vladimir Putin and the Russian aggression into Crimea and the Eastern Ukraine.  Death and destruction there in Ukraine paled the natural events in Slovakia's weather.

Surprisingly less damage was placed in the lower valleys of the former Czechoslovakia.  The economic and natural disaster occurred in the higher elevations of the hills and mountains.  Hundreds of thousands of trees blown over dot the view in huge swaths of land.  A delegation from Shenandoah, Iowa observed the devastation to the landscape in Tisovec, Slovakia.  There will be no facts and figures in this post but an interesting thought to be shared.  This thought derives and is inspired by the scenes viewed of entire acreages laid waste that was once lush with green vegetation.

In a couple of heavy duty vehicles we set out on a trek up the mountainside with a local Forestry Director as our guide.  We stopped on the road not long into our journey.  In awe we pulled out our cameras and captured the ruin by the roadside.  It was easy to empathize with the feelings and concerns of the local residents.  One may think, as I did, that this event would be good for the department.  My thinking was that the trees are now brought down that eventually would need to be.  The Forestry controls the wood supply to the community and promotes future growth in a rotation schedule just as many farmers in the States do with corn, wheat and soybeans.  Instead of being a good thing this wound up a calamity in logistics.  This storm further upset the rotation and blocked important roadways for their work.  The storm had an adverse affect on an already troubled forest.

Trees uprooted straight from the ground and laid over.

When we had an up close look I marveled how the trees were wholly uprooted and laid over.  So much so that I asked if the trees were mechanically pulled up for safety reasons from the crippling affect of the storm.  No, the trees went straight over without any help from man.  It wasn't until the next day that I learned an important truth about the trees here in the Tisovec area and about man in general.  A parable if you will.

The next day a couple of us went out with another gentleman whose livelihood deals in trees and forestry as well.  He explained further the problems facing the forestry here and the infestation taking place.  Many of these trees are being plagued with dangerous insects like bark beetles and diseases.  It was explained that up until a hundred years ago the native Birch tree was used in all wood purposes whether it be heating or building.  Around that time the Spruce was introduced.  The Spruce grew just as tall as the Birch and provided an added resource.  However, nature seems to have fought back.  The Spruce roots do not go deep in the rocky ground of Slovakia.  Though tall this also makes the tree very unstable.  This is part of the reason why so many trees seemed to be uprooted  from the storm.  Their roots didn't go deep and were susceptible to the wind.  Unlike the native Birch the Spruce doesn't provide the elasticity to sway with the Slovakian winds.  Evidently, this intrusive introduction of the Spruce has brought the modern problems of insects and disease.

This learning experience brought me to reflection.  In pondering this parable of life it was clear that I was supposed to come at this particular time to learn and bring back certain lessons to the United States.  We have a growing problem in the United States and that is in personal identity and moral decay.  Too many are mutilating their minds and bodies in an outcry effort to have an identity.  Lost in the crowd and the grays of confusion many of our young and middle age seek out artificial individuality.  Regardless of popular belief I know this to be evident in the spike of body piercings, tattoos and other activities that enslave the mind like Internet gaming.  What we lack is a firm foundation that provides man stability and a lasting happiness.

Every generation has its own unique opposing problems to conquer.  This generation doesn't suffer the pains of physical labor like our ancestors or the engineering skills to map out a nuclear bomb shelter.  This generation's obstacles suppress and fog those activities and principles that generations past have utilized to gain a firm footing in life.  Our fathers and mothers, authors of our lineage, used family traditions, religious values and honesty as their compass.  If they were without wisdom they at least knew how to seek it.

Our people today thirst after that which matters most to their inner being.  Yet, they fail to find the will to search for it.  To fill this vast void, unhappiness finds alternate Band-aid quick fixes to satisfy their self worth.  It is true that this is folly because they have no comprehension of what these permanent "fixes" will do to them in the long term.  Adverse powers tell the mind to seek immediate satisfaction.

This journey into the perils of the Slovak forest was a visual parable depiction of the storms of life.  If we lose hope and fail to provide strong roots for our being we will be at the mercy of the smallest of change in the wind.  We will not have the better chance to stand like the native Birch, but one-by-one we will fall because our small roots did not provide a sure foundation in the rocky terrain of life.

The gentleman on this second day in the forest said that its not destruction what took place here but destiny.  Storms will come and go, and what we have done to ourselves and the land provide the destiny that storm gives us.  There will always be clean-up and moving on.  Those activities are a part of life, yet equally as important is learning the lessons from the tempests that plague us.

When you have acquired your foundation and after the storm passes then you can ask yourself - is it destruction or destiny?

Holocaust from Budapest: A Journal Entry From Their Footsteps

Have you lived through the Holocaust?  Have you been schooled in what its all about?  Have you visited a Holocaust memorial or museum?  Do you know of the atrocious nature of the Nazis and the Russians at the time?  Your answer to these questions are an accurate gauge of your true understanding of the plight of the Jewish experience during World War ll and even thereafter.

I recently had the opportunity to visit Tisovec, Slovakia on City business.  Our plane came in and out of Budapest, Hungary.  We stayed the last couple days prior to our departure plane in Budapest.  I had the grand and somber occasion to visit two separate Holocaust memorials.  I hold to the fact that one cannot leave either building with smiles or even happy thoughts.

The first building we visited is the Terror Haza or commonly termed the House of Terror.  It is the actual building where Nazi and later Russian fascists interrogated, tortured and even murdered Jewish citizens whom they purposely deemed and framed as vagrants and resistors.  It was first used in 1944 by the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party.  Each floor deepened the empathy in each visitor for those souls who suffered cruel indignity and death.  It's interesting that the curriculum we are taught elsewhere in the world including the United States pales in thorough information that is only known through going to those places.  I did not know the depth of the twisted nature of the evil regimes of the Nazis, Russians and factions such as the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party.  In fact, to learn of history from a different land can only bond you to the actual event only so far.  But, to walk the very city, to walk the very footsteps of millions of doomed men, women and children is most humbling indeed.  Doing so cannot be compared to.

House of Terror

As with all dictatorships and rise of liberty-stripped populations the empires start with small seemingly insignificant events.  The Jewish community was industrious, happy and included many business leaders.  Out of hate and fear the Arrow Cross restricted their prosperity, and eventually instituted policies regarding the very nature of man including procreation between a Jew and a non-Jew.  Then this now isolated people had to wear the Yellow Star of David.  The categorization of this people had already begun.

Officers at the House of Terror quickly became known as masters of life and death.  In infamy the address 60 Andrassy Boulevard became.  The knot in the noose of fear and terror housed the horrors of what men can possibly do to another from 1944 through 1957.

The other building was the Holocaust Memorial Center.  It also was very somber.  It listed several torture techniques that is unconscionable to even fair minded human beings.  There are reports of crushing a man's testicles and crushing a woman's uterus as a token and an assurance that a Jew cannot procreate.  My Holy God!  The dredging feeling in the heart is wrenching.  Also disturbing was individual life stories being told.  Many stories of couples and families happy and prosperous one day and in the camps the next.  You see pictures of happy couples smiling and in love.  It was difficult to see such happiness and to already know their demise in such short few days, months or years.  The lasting symbol tribute to the Holocaust victims was the Tree of Life outside the Holocaust Memorial Center.

The Tree of Life

It was difficult indeed to comprehend especially with the connection I personally have with the departed.  The experience forces the organization of the mind into deep reflection.  I left the building and returned to a fast-paced busy world of Budapest.  I watched as people walked to and fro and drove like mad men (as is custom in Budapest) to their respective destinations.  Many are used to the Holocaust memorials in their midst.  Many are oblivious to them and express their disinterest.  I marvel how we as a people can forget and fail to humble ourselves to such events that took place literally not even 60 years ago.

As far as God and human events are concerned I believe two things.  God allows things to happen or God invokes or causes things to happen.  It is clear that those dark years were allowed to happen.  If something is allowed to happen then we are to learn from it.  Right?  As I reflect as people went about their business I have to ask myself - are we or have we learned?

History marks the way.  That which is failed to be learned is doomed to happen again.  9.75 out of every 10 persons would say that such things can never happen again.  It is impossible with our modern sense of morality and technology.  Yet, I bet the populous thought the very same thing in 1935.

I am here to tell you that it can happen again.  With our technology and might I foresee such an event happening swift, quick and on such a widespread scale that will shadow even the fiery chambers of the death camps.  May we ever learn the lessons of the Holocaust and hold sway the adverse forces that seek it.

Rocky Mountain Oysters an American Delicacy

At the risk of sounding irreverent I must step in and post my thoughts on this.  Rocky Mountain Oysters are seemingly a delicacy especially shined in the United States.  Before a month ago I didn't know what they were.  When I heard the term I assumed them to be regular oysters that somehow came from the Rocky Mountains.  Notta!  As I was processing a special request for a customer, revelation came across my desk that such delicacies can only be manifest from the testicles of primarily beef, pork or turkey herds.  Needless to say I was in shock and sat in my chair in utter nauseated disbelief .


Now when I was a young boy, my family lived next to a farm for a few years just outside a very small town of Avoca, Nebraska.  I did have the grand opportunity to view the castration of swine or pigs.  I don't recall the term "Rocky Mountain Oysters", yet I do remember the consummate finality of the process and the sheer sympathy for the pain.  It's one of those epic moments in a young man's life that sticks with you especially if it's not an everyday occurrence.

Rocky Mountain Oysters seem to be more of a taste for the more masculine of the human species.  I special ordered these "family jewels" for a client that swears her husband and his friends love them.  She will not touch them or even cook them.  Note: she is a very accomplished chef.  Though talented in the preparation of formal dining she is repulsed by Rocky Mountain Oysters - no matter where they originated.

Now, I have the utmost respect for the American cowboy and ranchers from which many attribute this succulent dish has gained popularity.  I applaud the use of as much of an animal as is possible if it must be killed or slain.  However, there just seems to be something sacrilegious about it.  Perhaps its the pain or the intended original use - I'm just not sure.  As I ponder this universal question of "why", I know in my heart that them oysters shall not be processed through my system.

How to Lose Weight in a Formal Suit for Men

"Lose weight fast" is always a great gimmick.  The infamous "before, after, before, after" advertisement in the mirror makes you drool.  There are even miracle pills, wraps and lotions claiming to shrink your waist size and make you more attractive.  Agreeably, since we all have different metabolisms and bodies one may work for you and not for another - even including the scam potions.  I will tell you a few various ways to forego the gym shorts and the foil sweat pants, and acquire the slender you while in your formal suit.  Granted, this works best if you are often in a suit, for instance, church or white collar occupations.

Having wore a suit for most of my earthly Sundays and on-and-off through the week I've acquired some insights of losing weight and improving overall health.  Here are three techniques that you can initiate at home, church or the workplace:

1. Anxiety - If you are wearing a suit it may be for a reason you are not used to.  It may be a wedding, funeral or even a plain church service.  Against all better advice I'd recommend that you make it a habit to conjure up extreme anxiety whenever you put on the suit.  Perhaps you are afraid of weddings or funerals make you too somber.  Going to church might manifest the "wrath of God" and strike you down for your sins.  Whatever the reason may be, you'll find that it is a great source of regularity, thereby flushing your body of all impurities.  As a disclaimer just make sure restroom facilities are readily available.
2. Wear a tie - You may have a puzzling look right now.  How can wearing a tie make me lose weight?  There are all kinds of ties out there.  You can choose one according to your character and personality.  You can wear grandpa's old rusty tie from 1762 or a modern one with cartoons on it.  Whatever you choose you want to make sure it is tied correctly and properly.  The key to losing weight is in making sure it is tied tight.  That way when you sit down you run a good possibility of passing out.  Hence, passing out equals no food intake = weight loss.
3. Good shoes - Ah, yes, nothing expresses a suave man as a nice pair of formal shoes.  They come in great colors as black, tan, burgundy and even navy blue.  Formal shoes don't have the traction as cleats or tennis shoes.  This is a plus for our weight loss endeavors.  As you stroll on the sidewalk take the opportunity to jog or have an all out run.  The absence of sole traction increases your possibility of falling by at least 72%.  This is also good, and puts you on the track further than anything Richard Simmons could provide.  As you snatch that 72% and fall, it is good to learn the rolling technique.  Doing so may prevent damage to your awesome suit.  Anyway, what does falling cause?  It causes you to go through the agony of getting back up.  The process of falling and getting up can result in burning countless calories for you.  Who knows, maybe even up to 120 calories per fall depending on your portliness.  

This post is not designed to make fun of anyone overweight except myself.  Though I am not grossly overweight or obese I do have some portliness - or "porkliness" as the case may be.  If we cannot learn to laugh at ourselves then what is the point of living at all?  Don't take offense to these light-hearted words that are only meant to bring levity to a harrowing plight for many of us.

Retribution Honor Killing for Faith and Love Marriage

Many nations in the Middle East continue to practice archaic traditions including honor killing.  Modern technology has given way to a whole host of new ideas and ideologies to everyone around the world.  Human rights and by extension women's rights have opened doors to vast numbers and has threatened centuries of traditions.  In consequence this has resulted in the death of many women.

Honor killing is what they call it when a family murders one of their own to protect the honor of the family.  Obviously this is inflicted overwhelmingly on women.  In many of these countries arranged marriages are the norm and are strictly adhered to by traditionalists.  Just like Islamic extremism, to go outside those pronounced boundaries can cost you your life.  Though concentrated in South Asia and the Middle East the practice exists all around the world.  Estimations are upwards of 20,000 women each year losing their life due to homicide at the hands of their own family.  If a young woman chooses on her own to marry a man because she loves him and does so outside the consent of the family she reaps the consequence of severe affliction.

Honor killing fallback reasons include homosexuality, sexual misconduct outside of marriage, marriage outside the consent of the family, refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, participating in public life especially propagating women's initiatives, inappropriate dress and even being a victim of rape.  Needless to say that the "art" of honor killing denies basic human rights, recompense, agency of choice and the ability to live within those choices.  In essence, to superficially protect the family honor all faith in the pursual of personal happiness is null and void.

Let us keep in mind that many of these nations have "adopted" legal processes "designed" to protect the rights of women.  Most likely this is purely for the image seen by the world and not because of actual government adoption of human rights.  To be seen as protecting the rights of all citizens invites the aid and funds from other countries especially from the United States of America.  They will actually turn a blind eye to these traditions as long as its not a public display.  The link above is the exception as it was a public display thus prompting the legal process to save face of Pakistan.  The legal process will seem more bold in this instance up until the media dies down.  Once it does, mark my words, judgement will pass to dismiss the case or place a small fine upon the family.

Governments can get in on the action as well.  As a show of force and unwavering extremism they will trump up charges against women to protect the edicts of the central faith of that country.  Such is the case with Meriam Yahya Ibrahim, a Sudanese woman.  A woman who marries a Christian, converts to Christianity and is heavy with child is sentenced to death but only after nursing her child for two years.  In the meantime she must endure 100 lashes.  This practice is such BS!  I wholly understand that such traditions are a mindset in these cultures and is a normal practice, but these are the kinds of things that engaging simple civility should extract people from.

Women and men here in the United States cry "inequality!" in their daily life as Americans.  Take one look at the recluse life women have to endure in many other countries and then look at your own prideful heart.  Gee, perhaps there are people out there in much more peril than you.  Perhaps this is a call to reach out even more in our humanity.  We need to teach people of human happiness and that it can be achieved.  We need to extend that as an option and invitation to those who hide in the shadows of their own blood.

Could it be that by looking beyond ourselves we can change our own lives by helping to change the world?

It may be difficult to compare honor killing with women's rights, but there are places out there where the latter leads to the former.  Using personal judgement and choice to marry out of your love for another is a right assumed by those who feel the ancient pressures of strict traditions.  I only pray that the world will take a more civilized approach toward the personal choice of their citizens and families.  If you feel such brutal and gruesome practices need to be vanquished then what will you do?  What will you do?

Dental Bitewing X-ray a Royal Oral Pain

Going to the dentist is very important.  It has been proven that regular dental checkups are directly tied to your overall health.  A dental exam is among the top visits that instigate a recoil affect on the patient or prospective patient.  It is seen as a horror even among many regular patients.  This is one of the main reasons teeth and overall oral condition deteriorates exponentially within the populous.  This post is short so it is not a "how to" or even an educational tool.  I have a pet peeve about dental visits.

Several years ago I went to see a dentist.  It was the first in many years.  I was told I had periodontal disease and I took it very hard.  I imagined my jaw falling off within a year followed up with maggots making a home in my face.  It was not what I wanted to hear.  However, I was told that regular visits can halt and even improve the condition.  From that point on I've been religiously tending to my dental checkups every six months.  It's probably going on a decade now.

Everybody knows that it isn't "normal" to have foreign objects of metal, let alone someone else's hands, inside your mouth.  For many the thought is equal to sticking a live electric wire inside your mouth while the dentist and the aides dance around you like ravenous wolves.  Do we gleefully walk into a den of wolves and expect good news?  I say nay.  Like a snake we flinch and retreat into our comfort zone.  In other words we curl up in fetal position and suck our thumbs.

Don't you love watching the approach toward the infestation of bacteria and plaque that's nestled in the oral abyss?  Do you cringe in you mind as you know they are reaching for that one spot that gives you trouble?  You know in your mind that eventually their sorcery with the metal hook will snag that sweet spot of nerve and send you into an eternal orbit.  Yet, when all is said and done, and after a few therapy sessions with a psychologist, you feel better that you've gone.

Nasty! Note, this is not my teeth. I wasn't that far gone.

These things still affect me as well, but for some unseen reason there is one aspect of the dental visit that irks me the most.  Once a year I am reminded that I am due for x-rays and if I'd like to have them done.  Being a loyal student of future happiness I always oblige.  What annoys me to a mildly painful degree is biting down on the x-ray bitewing.  Not only do you feel like a cyborg whose body has been violated, but you have something in your mouth that is totally non-oral friendly.

I just got back from a dental visit and wanted to share my plight with the world.  May your shaky dentist inflict your roots with rusty jagged tools.  May you do so with the open knowledge that you willingly subjected your self to it.

That last part was just for humor.  Actually, I encourage you to achieve the effort to visit the dentist office regularly.  You will feel better.  There may be a lot of work at first and it may require several visits in a short amount of time.  Have the vision though that it will be all worth it.