Rubicon3

Donna's Interview

Wow.  great responses, Donna.  Thanks.

1. First and foremost, how are you and your family doing in the aftermath of Katrina? Do you have any thoughts about the experience, the media coverage, political reaction, etc?

I am from and my family remains about an hour north of New Orleans. The Sunday before Katrina hit, my family scuttled to where I live now in Northeast Louisiana. Me and four adult family members, a teenager, two toddlers and two chihuahuas stayed for two weeks in my one bedroom/one bath apartment. I am forever grateful that they were able to leave, that they had somewhere to go, that the house that I grew up in still stood and that they were able to eventually return painlessly. The only hardship that they had to endure was losing everything in some freezers and not being home for two weeks. My family is not known for being grateful. I have managed to block most of the whole thing out and things for me and my family have returned to pre-Katrina status. During their stay, my grandmother kept Fox News and CNN going 24 hours a day with running commentary of the commentary and I spent most of my time at work to get away from it. I got most of the news from blogs and personal websites with more insight and feeling than Geraldo. What I did see made me feel helpless and angry and sad.

I am sad to report that in my area of the state (North) and what I only assume other parts of the state is that things have returned to pre- Katrina status. Louisiana has always been very North Louisiana/South Louisiana, never the twain shall meet. Keep your problems down South and we'll keep our nose clean just fine up here, thanks. I am sad to say that there are people in my own state who do not understand why it is so important to rebuild and to do all we can to understand and keep this from happening again.

I am sad that it appears that what Katrina taught us has already been forgotten and not much is going on to make the necessary changes as far as coastal protection and levee maintenance. We have been written off by our own selves and what do you do then? I don't think Louisiana politicians did enough to get the serious attention of national leaders and I felt that there was a lot of he said/she said when we as a state and nation should have been coming together to get things done. As far as placing blame, I'm not interested. It has been a fact taught in elementary school what would happen if and, as I do in the national stage, I just want someone who will have a belief, a strategy, an idea and stick with it and carry it through. Stand up for my state and for what we believe in. I am still here because I believe in it. I still love it.

My brother, newly graduated!, is a journeyman electrician and has been working in downtown New Orleans, New Orleans East and the Ninth Ward. He says that in most areas, things still look the same as they did August 30, 2005. There are spots here and there where people have held on and rebuilt, but there are large areas that look to be just abandoned. That makes me sad. Tourist areas seem to be operating at pre-Katrina status so if one ever wanted to visit, do so now, please.

As much as I think that we have returned to a pre-Katrina mindset, I also want to remind and remember that the other side of my state was ripped away by a hurricane just three weeks after Katrina. Where there were small towns and fishing villages, there is nothing and it looks like it will remain nothing. I am just sad when I think about it.

Thank you for asking, Gail. It means a lot that we are still in others' minds. If you ever do decide to come visit, please let me know and I will be glad to be a first class tour guide.

2. What are your 3 favorite books and 3 favorite movies?

Books? Just three? Agony.

1) To Kill A Mockingbird 2) The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay 3) Atchafalaya Houseboat - I highly recommend this one, Gail. I think you would definitely enjoy it.

Movies:

1) To Kill A Mockingbird 2) It Happened One Night 3) Casablanca

Two and three in both categories depend on what day it is.

3. If you heard someone described as a "good soul," what would you assume that meant?

Someone who brings out the best in other people. Someone who is selfless. Someone who understands the connections that every living thing has with one another. Someone who can listen and not judge. Someone who has empathy and understanding. Someone, that at the end of their life, you realize that every day was a lesson while you just thought you were having fun.

4. What is the most beautiful sight you've ever seen?

When my youngest nephew was born, the day that his parents brought him home from the hospital, I was able to visit. I stayed up all night holding him, spoiling him, letting his parents get some rest. He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. So tiny and squirmy and expressive and perfect. I spent the night counting all ten fingers and toes, telling him that I would be proud of him no matter who he became and that I'd bail him out of jail if necessary. He stole my heart.

5. If you could invite any 5 people, living or dead, to a dinner party, who would you choose and why?

Richard Winters - a member of the greatest generation so I could shake his hand and tell him thanks and listen to all of his wonderful stories in person

Jesus Christ - so he could get the story straight

my great aunt that passed away when I was 14 - she was always a colorful character with lots of life and energy and I'd love to hear the conversation between her and Jesus. I miss her and I'd want to be sure she knew that I turned out okay.

Stephen King - one of my favorite storytellers, I just hope he wouldn't be too bored

my buddy Brian - I miss him very much and I'd want to know if it was everything he thought it would be and what the heck he's been doing with himself the last 11 years and to make sure that he knew that I was grateful.

A very selfish dinner party that lasted three days to be sure.

Interview Meme

Don't miss Andy's answers to the Interview Meme.  He's supplied some interesting food for thought, as usual, and some good links too. 

Toilet Innards

My goodness, but toilet innards are very expensive to replace.  It seems to have gotten worse since the last time I had to deal with the issue.  I just spent $189.00 to replace a flapper.  Maybe next time I'll try to do it myself.  It doesn't look that difficult.   

Multi-culti Moronics

How condoning cultural "differences" can prove very unhealthy for women, explained in detail.

An alternative opinion: Whatever you do, don't insult those who chop heads and beat women.  Pointing out barbarity only leads to more barbarity.  One must politely turn one's head and invite them for tea and cookies instead.  Never fear, they will learn that tea and cookies are much more civilized than head choppings and wife beatings through our example.

Oh, but hold on there now - if only the Jews had not rejected Hellenism and philosophy, we'd never have had to deal with any of these problems to begin with.

Climate Change

Of interest, though the etiology is apparently different than that of earth's global warming:

Scientists from Nasa say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period.

The Greatest Story Never Told

No time to do more than post this.  I think the word needs to be spread and Bush should receive credit where it is due.  Yesterday on The Corner, Larry Kudlow wrote:

It was truly an historic day on Wall Street yesterday as the Dow Jones Index rocketed to a record-breaking, first-ever, 13,000 close with a dramatic 136-point surge.

And the best part is that the gains extend beyond the Dow.

Stocks surged across the board with a 15-point gain by the S&P 500 and a 23-point gain in the Nasdaq. Record closings galore for transports, utilities, and the Wilshire 5000. The S&P 500 is nipping at the bit, just 30 points away from achieving its all-time high. Meanwhile, both the S&P 400 midcap index and the S&P 600 small cap index hit all-time highs. The New York Stock Exchange index is at an all time high, while stock-indexes in Germany, the UK, France and Italy are all approaching their own all time highs.

If I may, permit me to once again call this what it is—the greatest story never told.

We are in the midst of the longest uninterrupted bull market run in memory. We have record low tax rates on capital, a benign inflation rate, and recent economic releases suggesting the Goldilocks soft landing scenario remains very much in place.

But in the end, it all boils down to two simple things—two stock market locomotives that have created enormous, still untapped, value in equities. Viewers have heard talk about them night after night:

High earnings, low interest rates.

Mark my words, it ain't over yet.

Will George W. Bush ever get any credit for this?

Highly Recommended

Be sure to stop by and read Oceanguy's responses to the interview question meme.   

Interview Me Meme

Found this meme at Shirl's and she has come up with some terrific interview questions.  Thank you Shirl! I normally don't like to write about me, but your questions got me going quite well.

1.  Former nurse, former science teacher.   If you had to go back to one of these, which would you prefer, and why? 

Oh man, that's a tough one.  I loved doing both, each in their own way.  Honestly, nursing is a good young person's profession - at least the sort of nursing I did.  I worked a day/night rotation which would positively kill me now.  It consisted of a string of 7am-3pm shifts, followed by a string of 11pm-7am shifts.  There was no chance to become fully acclimated to any time schedule because it changed so frequently.  I was on my feet and moving and lifting patients and helping them to the bathroom and in and out of bed and bathing them and changing their sheets and giving them meds for 8 hours straight on the day shift.  Every shift was a workout, both physically and mentally - yah, nurses actually do have to think, despite the bimbo reputation.   

The night shift was different, depending on what was going on with the patients.  It could be slow or it could be hell on wheels.  There's fewer staff on at night - if a patient goes south, you are on your own.

One of my least favorite things was waking up the doctors.  Some of them were quite nasty about it.  I never woke them unless it was absolutely necessary - I understood that they needed their sleep.  But the patient came first - always. I saved the rear ends of many interns who did not know what they were doing.  They never thanked me.  Not once.

Observation of symptoms and knowing what's important and what isn't is an art and a science.  My ability to observe grew over a period of time and became instinctive.  It was never wrong.  When I worried over a symptom, I was always right about it - it always turned into something that required intervention. It felt good to be able to catch things early and to intevene and help people. 

I worked at Georgetown University Hospital on the oncology unit.  The head nurse insisted on the highest quality of care for the patients and ran a very tight ship.  I have been to other hospitals as a nurse, a patient and an observer - I don't think you could have found better nursing care anywhere than on that unit.  I have no idea how it is now, but back in the early 80s, it was cutting edge treatment and care.  We had some of the first AIDs patients, back before we learned that it was not an airborne illness.  We gowned and gloved up the wazoo before we went into their rooms.  My husband was very disturbed by the fact that I was at risk, but we all did what we had to do.  They were so pathetic, so out of their minds ill.  What a wretched disease it is. 

We were also involved in research, giving the first trials of interferon and other chemotherapeutic agents and doing studies on pain medications. 

Truly, after bathing and changing the sheets and helping folks to the bathroom, spoon-feeding them their meals and giving them injections for pain, when those patients looked up at me and I saw the relief in their eyes - there was nothing like it. And I held their hands all night and was with them when they died and I wrapped their bodies for the morgue and comforted their families. It was an amazing experience.

But I don't have it in me to do it anymore - at least not to do it right. 

I left nursing because I found it incompatible with parenting and family life.

Later on when my children were a bit older, I went back to school and earned a master's degree in middle school education.  Taught 8th grade science part time from 98-2001.  It was great.  So much fun - I loved it.  Loved the kids - I feel right at home with the 13-14 year old sense of humor, quite honestly.  But I was very strict and my students had the highest scores of anyone else's in the department on the state tests.  I was very proud of that, and also of the fact that I was able to accomplish this without the kids hating me.  lol.  They liked my class despite the fact that I made them work.  Why?  Because I explained why it was important for them to know what I was attempting to teach them, I gave them context, I fit chemistry, physics and astronomy into the grand scheme of things for them and tried my best to make the abstract make concrete sense. I never gave an assignment that was busy work, I did not go onto another concept until they completely learned the one from before, and we got to play with chemicals and computers and beakers and fun stuff. And I always laughed and joked about the pronunciation of "Uranus."

I quit teaching when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Had to put health and family first. 

I loved both professions, each for different reasons.  What they shared was that each made me feel that I was doing something valuable, that I was of use to the universe.

Right now, I can't work - other than teaching Sunday school which will end soon in any event - because I need to be around when my daughter comes home from treatment in June.  The transition will not be easy for her, and I want to make sure that if she needs me, I am there.

2.  If you could be anything, what would you be, and why?  (I'd vote for you for president, by the way *grin*)

Oh Shirl, you are too kind!  I'd make a very bad president.  I think I'd have an itchy trigger finger.  The earth would be rubble!

I would be a science teacher and a poet/photographer/artist/blogger/cook/student of Judaic studies on the side. Those are the things I like doing most.

I once thought I wanted a title and an office and a big paycheck the big job that goes along with those things, but my ambitions shrunk after cancer.  I am happy to be alive and witnessing each season as it passes.

3.  You are so well-traveled.  If you could live anywhere, where would that be, and, of course, the inevitable why?

Hmmmmmm.  So many different factors enter into choosing a place to live.  Family considerations really color my choices right now.  Honestly, I could be happy anywhere.  I am very flexible in that regard. 

Out of sentiment, I might say that I'd choose to move back to where I grew up - New Rochelle, NY.  Only 45 minutes from Broadway....I've lived in the DC area for almost 30 years, but I'm still a New Yorker at heart.

I don't have a favorite place as far as travel goes. Every place has been interesting and unique. But, there's no place I like better than the US.   

4.  How many brothers and sisters do you have, and what is your position in the birth order of your family?  Do you believe birth order affects personality?

I have a brother who is 3.5 years older than I am.  I am the spoiled, cosseted baby, and yes, I think it does affect personality.  I'm absolutely adorable, of course - the cutest thing to ever make an appearance on this planet.  The only thing that keeps me from being completely insufferable is the fact that I grew up surrounded by many people of great wealth while we had nothing.  I was glad when my father managed to get the electric bill paid or could buy oil for the winter.  My school was filled with rich kids who went to exotic places for spring break, came back tan and gorgeous while I remained pasty white and envious.   

Being the youngest also made me very sensitive to being teased and if you do, I swear I'll tell on you.

5.  Okay, a silly one.  Who is your personal "McDreamy?"  We promise we won't tell your husband.

I like the old time actors - Richard Burton, Cary Grant, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and Humphrey Bogart. They were suave and handsome and brave and knew how to wear a tuxedo.

Thanks again, Shirl!

DIRECTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW MEME
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

About 40 Seconds in...

...you will begin to hear the greatest 2-fingered jazz guitar playing you've ever heard.  Only 2 of the fingers of Django Reinhart's left hand were functional, but he made it look easy:

Truth is Greater than Courtesy

Bravo.  Well said. 

"Ceasefire?"

I have not remarked upon it, but it is an extremely rare day that passes that I don't see a report of kassam rockets attacks on Israel in the news.  The news is only being reported by Israeli sources, so relatively few know about the attacks.  Honest Reporting has an excellent round up of information and an explanation of exactly how it translates into a biased view of Israel from abroad:

Over the past few years the media has consistently downplayed or ignored Palestinian violence, while apportioning blame on Israeli retaliatory or preventative actions as the cause of "escalating violence" or "breaking of ceasefires". It appears, yet again, necessary to protest this inaccurate and misleading representation of the conflict. 

Unless you read the Israeli press on a daily basis, it is almost impossible to get a full and accurate picture of events in Israel and the Palestinian territories from the international media. One could get a false impression of relative quiet in the absence of media reports of mass casualty events.

A 22 April Associated Press report says that: "Hamas militants called Sunday for a fresh wave of attacks against Israel after troops killed nine Palestinians in weekend fighting, straining a five-month-old cease-fire."

Thus, Israel is blamed for "straining a ceasefire".  According to the AP: "The Gaza truce has largely held, though militants have frequently fired rockets into Israel and have attacked Israeli patrols along the border fence." How serious must Palestinian actions be in the eyes of  the AP before a "ceasefire" is broken? Why are Israeli counter-measures designed to protect this truce regarded as violations while constant Palestinian terror is not?

Recent Israeli operations against targets in Gaza are a direct response to the latest Qassam missile attacks. Yet, the AP saves this for the third paragraph of its report: "The fighting also included a Palestinian rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of Sderot that damaged a home."

The Elder of Ziyon blog has been keeping a calendar of Qassam attacks and Israeli responses, demonstrating that while Israel has exercised an enormous amount of restraint over the past months, the Palestinians have not actually enforced the Gaza "ceasefire" that they claim to be adhering to.

There's a lot more.

It's Been a While

Yesterday I took daughter to the pediatrician because she had an earache.  Given that she's been away from home for the past two years and that her two brothers are older and go to an internist who sees only adults, it was a very strange flashback to earlier times.  Strange, but very sweet.  Of course, I have no way of knowing what will be in the future, but for now, our relationship and her behavior and delight and happiness and joy are everything I have every wanted and dreamed of from the day I discovered I was going to give birth to her almost 16 years ago. 

I'd grieved as if I'd lost her, and now she's back. How much more do we savor that which seemed lost to us? There are no words to express it. B'H.

War Games

China vs Taiwan - - Who would win?  According to Taiwan, China would not:

A computer simulation projected that China could land forces on rival Taiwan, but they would be repulsed after two weeks of fierce fighting and harsh losses to both sides, Taiwan's military said Tuesday.

Link

Click the Link and Read the Whole Thing

We in The West try very hard to keep from thinking about conquering anything. Some of us are even ashamed that our culture is so successful and powerful that most of the conquest we do these days is of the non-violent, social and cultural kind. There are any number of leftists who speak of western “cultural hegemony” as if it were a bad thing. They bemoan the loss of native cultures and the metastasization of Hollywood product around the globe while ignoring that fact that the reason why it is happening is that our culture is dominant for good reasons- it offers better protection for the less powerful and it provides better economic opportunity than any other. It is fine for leftists and progressives to bemoan the spread of democracy and capitalism but precious few of them would want to live under any of the alternatives. It is, still, a conquer or be conquered world but we are so used to having our own way and becoming dominant wherever in the world we happen to be that we have forgotten how hard the fight for survival can be and how quickly it can turn desperate. We really need to keep reminding ourselves that just because we no longer have the urge to conquer that no one else does. - Yaacov Ben Moshe

Question: What is Ha-Ha-Ha-Eeeew?

I'd read this earlier today and immediately forgot about it.  And so it took me a minute to understand what this was all about when I read it this afternoon.

Answer:  My reaction 

Bubbe's Mandle Bread. Yum.

Via Chalutz Productions (where other Bubbe recipes can be found) and Yideoz videos.

This dish is rated Parve and can be eaten with meat and milk meals.

Supplies:

Large Baking Pan
Loaf Pan

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
Pinch of salt
3 tbsp. baking powder
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. wine or 1 tbsp of vanilla
1 tbsp. cocoa
1 tbsp. cinnamon

Procedure:

1. Sift dry ingredients - flour, salt, baking powder
2. Beat the eggs until thick, gradually add the sugar.
3. Continue beating until lemon colored.
4. Stir in oil and wine.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture.
6. Take 1/3 of the mixture and place in another bowl and mix with cocoa.
7. Grease baking pans.
8. Shape the white batter into a small loaf and roll one strip of the dark batter.
9. Place dark in the center on top of the white loaf.
10. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture.
11. Bake 350 deg for 25 - 30 min.

Makes 2 loaves and slice when cool

Trying to Catch Breath

Taught Sunday School this morning - have been up since 6 am.  Two back to back classes, I am a total mush brain, and in a few minutes my BIL will be over with his new girlfriend who we will be meeting for the first time. Planning the first cedar plank salmon of the season - it's a gorgeous day - sunny and 81 degrees.  Thankfully, daughter is home and is a tremendous help.  She's been so sweet, keeps offering  to do anything she can.  : )

Anyway, the real reason for this post is really to direct you to Haveil Havalim #113 at SoccerDad.  It's a great issue - posts on Yom Hashoah, Judaism, politics, VTech and more.  Don't miss it.

A Great Way to Liven up a Dull Class

Tribute to a Survivor Who Made a Difference

Received in email:

My Stand

A Tribute to Liviu Librescu

By Philip C. Selz



In the darkest times we've seen, I was sent into the camps

As I smelled the stench of burning flesh, I knew my kin were gone

Survival was my only thought, I knew I must come through

But I didn't know the reason that my living must go on



And when the war had ended, liberation finally came

And I grew to be a man and shortly after took a wife

And we raised our kids in Israel and we did the best we could

And we lived for those who died and worked to make a useful life



Then a teaching job came to me in America one day

And I thought that building new young minds was destiny for me

So I traveled to Virginia and I made a brand new start

And I taught engineering in this homeland of the free



Now I hear the hallways screaming as shots are fired there

And I hear the terror in the screams and understand their plight

So I bar the door from danger and I tell my students "Run!"

And as the bullets breach the door I know that I must fight



And in these final moments as my life is seeping out

I think back over 60 years and finally understand

My own salvation now makes sense as children flee and live

I was saved that day to save this day, I've finally made my stand.

Liviu Librescu

Witness Tells a Hero's Story - Martin C. Evans
Theresa Walsh was one of the last people to see Liviu Librescu alive. "He looked horrified, almost as if he knew what was going to happen," said the Virginia Tech math major, who had stepped into the hallway from a second-floor classroom across from his when she heard gunshots.
    "A lot of us would not be around today were it not for our colleagues warning us and giving us more time," said Ishwar Puri, chairman of the Engineering Science and Mechanics department, where Librescu was a professor, who said students in Librescu's second-floor classroom jumped from windows as Librescu barred the door. Librescu was hit at least five times and died on the classroom floor, according to Edgar Gluck, a Brooklyn rabbi who flew to Virginia to help prepare Librescu's body for burial. (Newsday)
    See also Virginia Professor Laid to Rest in Israel - Haviv Rettig
The funeral of slain Virginia Tech Professor Liviu Librescu took place in Ra'anana on Friday morning. (Jerusalem Post)

Jimmy Carter

I'll be blunt: The man is doing damage to Israel's reputation, and I don't like it.  He recently spoke in Iowa in an attempt to affect he outcome of the 2008 presidential elections, and also cast negative aspersions on AIPAC.  He received a standing ovation:

"I wrote this book to describe the plight of the Palestinians," he said. "And because I was convinced that we need a debate about where we are and where we need to go."

Carter told the crowd that he chose Iowa out of the 100 university lecture invitations he received because Iowa caucus voters have the power to select candidates who will bolster peace efforts after six years of what he sees as inaction by the Bush administration.

"The main reason I came to Iowa is to make sure you knew you could shape an outcome in the 2008 presidential election. At least you can screen out candidates," he said. "Make them pledge to you ... that they will take a balanced position between Israel and Palestinians."

In response to accusations that he's biased, Carter noted his work with Israeli and Jewish groups. But he said that unlike current U.S. politicians and diplomats, he's not subject to pressure from interest groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC, a pro-Israeli lobby group, hasn't made an official statement in response to his book.

Before he bravely opens up his mouth again, I'd like to see him spend a year or two riding the public buses in Israel.

Putting Things into Perspective on Iraq

Via Gateway Pundit, who also has a great graphic from the Dept of Defense showing progress made in Iraq during the past year.  One would NEVER know it from reading the MSM or listening to Democrats.

Am Yisrael Chai

I meant to post the following audio file for Holocaust Remembrance day, but didn't have a chance. It's one of the most moving Holocaust artifacts you will ever come across - a recording which took place on the 5th day after liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp by British troops, when the weakened survivors mustered together all their strength to sing "Hatikvah" during a Friday evening service. This song later became Israel's National Anthem.

The words of Hatikvah in English:

The words to Israel's national anthem were written in 1886 by Naphtali Herz Imber, an English poet originally from Bohemia. The melody was written by Samuel Cohen, an immigrant from Moldavia. Cohen actually based the melody on a musical theme found in Bedrich Smetana’s "Moldau."

As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart,

With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion,

Then our hope - the two-thousand-year-old hope - will not be lost:

To be a free people in our land,

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

Beheadings in the Phillippines

The heads of seven men who were kidnapped by Muslim extremists on a volatile southern island were delivered to a Philippine army detachment on Thursday, officials said.

The men — six road project workers and a dried-fish factory worker — were kidnapped at gunpoint in two separate incidents Monday near the town of Parang.

Maj. Gen. Ruben Rafael, commander of military forces on Jolo island, said a group of civilians was ordered to take the heads to Parang by Muslim rebel commander Habier Malik, whose men have been battling troops since last week.

"This is a retaliation for the killing of one of their commanders," Rafael said. "This is a terrorist act that should be condemned by all."

He said the company which employed the road workers had refused to pay a ransom.

Link

I've had it! From here on in, I am declaring beings who are willing/able to carry out cold blooded beheadings as belonging to a different species from the rest of us.  No longer homo sapiens, the perpetrators of this hideousness are hereby dubbed, "Homo Medieviali Brutaliens." They are NOT HUMAN.

Dormitory Lockdown - - in Moscow

It's those skinheads celebrating hitler's birthday again.  Because balloons and cake are just not enough:

MOSCOW — A leading Moscow university ordered its foreign students on Thursday to remain in their dormitories for the next three days because of fears of ethnic violence before Adolf Hitler's birthday, students said.

Hundreds of students at the prestigious Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy were told to stock up on food and warned they would not be let out of the dormitories through Saturday in an attempt to protect them amid a marked rise in hate crimes.

Ethnically motivated violence tends to increase in the days leading up to and after Hitler's birthday on April 20, when some members of ultra-nationalist organizations shout slogans and stage attacks on dark-skinned foreign and other non-Slavic-looking people.

The measure at Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy did not appear to be exclusive. Other universities and organizations have in the past also warned foreigners of possible violence ahead of Hitler's birthday. In Moscow, authorities have closed down some outdoor markets over the last couple of years where many traders are foreigners.

Liah Ganeline, a second-year student at Sechenov from Israel, said authorities have locked down her dormitory in southern Moscow — which houses about 500 students from Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus region — every April 20 for the past several years. She said officials call it a fire safety drill.

She said another dormitory housing several hundred students in central Moscow was subject to similar restrictions.

Ganeline said, however, that all students were aware of the real reason, and noted that someone had scrawled the word "skinheads" over an announcement of the lockdown posted on a dormitory wall. Last year, she said, a group of skinheads threw firebombs at the dormitory building after shouting offensive slogans and giving the Nazi salute.

...Russia has seen a marked rise in racism and xenophobia over the past several years, with nonwhite or dark-skinned residents, foreigners and Jews bearing the brunt of the violence. According to the human rights center Sova, which monitors xenophobia, 53 people were killed in 2006 and 460 others were injured in apparent hate crimes.

Activists say authorities do little or nothing to combat the problem and that obvious hate crimes are regularly classified as mere hooliganism.

Alexander Brod, head of the Moscow Bureau for Human rights, said authorities should do more to prosecute hate groups and protect foreign students rather than subject them to restrictions.

"The activity of radicals is significantly increasing," he said. "But the decisions of the university officials ... must not violate the freedom of movement of foreigners."

Link

Chilling

Inside Terrorism: The X-Ray Project - Diane Covert (David Project Center for Jewish Leadership)
    A photography exhibit uses X-rays and CT scans from Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Hospital and Hadassah Medical Center to explore the effects of terrorism on a civilian population.

The watch of the suicide murderer became impaled in the neck of one young woman, who thankfully survived despite the fact that the watch tore through her carotid artery. Many pictures show ball bearings and hexagonal nuts embedded in body parts. Adults and children, Jew, Christian and Muslim - all victims of suicide bombings - the aftermath in xrays.

From the site:

They represent a broad cross-section of humanity. They are commuters on the London subway system. And on the trains in Madrid. They are celebrants at a wedding in Amman, Jordan and at a bat mitzvah in Hadera, Israel. They are little kids eating pizza; they are tourists in Bali and Egypt. They are people praying in churches and mosques and synagogues. They are celebrating the Passover Seder. Even doctors who try to help can become victims. In September of 2003, Dr. David Applebaum, the head of the ER deparment at Shaare Zedek Medical Center was murdered along with his 20 year old daughter, Naava. They were in Café Hillel in Jerusalem. Naava was to be married the next day. Dr. Applebaum had saved countless lives – Jewish, Christian and Muslim – during his career, but his life ended when a terrorist walked into the cafe and exploded. In Beslan, Russia, terrorists killed 344 innocent people, including 186 children, all held hostage in an elementary school. And on September 11 th 2001, terrorists murdered almost 3,000 people in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC.

The purpose of terrorism is to create victims. The goal is to murder and maim as many innocent people as possible. It is a political tool that has worldwide appeal, because it works. We have allowed it to work by not condemning and isolating those who use it. Terrorism has destroyed thousands of innocent lives in the past six years alone. Civilized people everywhere must condemn terrorism. We must speak in one voice. There is no excuse for terrorism - ever.

Related:

Baghdad Bombings Kill at Least 171 - Kirk Semple
A wave of bombings including four car bombs ravaged Baghdad on Wednesday, aimed mainly at Shiite crowds and, killing at least 171 people. In the worst of the bombings, a car packed with explosives exploded in the Sadriya neighborhood, killing at least 140 people and wounded 150. The explosion incinerated scores of vehicles, including several minibuses full of passengers. (New York Times)

*********************

Palestinian Media Watch has found dozens of examples of the Palestinian Authority glorifying individual acts of terrorism as well as the memory of terrorists past and present. Following is a collection of bulletins released by Palestinian Media Watch cataloguing just some of these examples.

VTech Blame

The gunman blamed for the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history had previously been accused of stalking two female students and had been taken to a mental health facility in 2005 after his parents worried he might be suicidal, police said Wednesday.

Cho Seung-Hui had concerned one woman enough with his calls and e-mail in 2005 that police were called in, said Police Chief Wendell Flinchum.

He said the woman declined to press charges and Cho was referred to the university disciplinary system. During one of those incidents, both in late 2005, the department received a call from Cho's parents who were concerned that he might be suicidal, and he was taken to a mental health facility, he said.

If blame belongs anywhere, it may be most appropriate to lay it at the feet of our mental health professionals and the insurance companies who refuse to cover treatment for people experiencing problems.

1. There are many incompetant mental health professionals and negligently run mental health hospitals and facilities out there.

2.  Insurance companies don't give a rat's ass about the patient and mental health care is hideously expensive. Mental health facilities don't give a darn either.  They won't argue or advocate for patients.  Families are left to their own devices to cope. 

Being from Korea and English not their native tongue, I am sure Cho's family didn't know what to do with him and had no clue how to navigate the system.

He should have been hospitalized until someone was able to get inside his brain and could tell what was going on. 

The Biased Broadcasting Comany

Via The Corner, a video describing the BBC as a trojan horse of anti-American, anti-Israel and anti-Capitalist values: 

Quote of the Day

“I got beat up by girls all the time [when I was a kid]. They literally posted a sign-up sheet and would take turns. I think that’s why I’ve always been such a fan of Mencken’s line, ‘Afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.’ I’ve been afflicted.” —MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann **“It’s been said that a conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged by reality. Apparently a liberal is someone who’s been mugged by little girls.” —James Taranto

Rolling Stones: Top 25 Songs With a Secret

Some I knew, most I didn't. 

You Go, Guys

Though I am not, generally speaking, a fan of civil disobedience (I don't think it's a very effective tool for getting what you want accomplished), in this case I can't help but make an exception.  I believe in this issue and I agree with the sentiment 100%:

Twenty-one rabbis, and a Jewish community layperson were arrested at the United Nations Tuesday, demanding that Iran be removed from the international body.

The group, organized by AMCHA – Coalition for Jewish Concerns, was arrested by New York City Police and imprisoned for several hours after peacefully crossing over from the public city street to the steps leading down to the United Nations.

AMCHA Director, and Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, Avi Weiss stated in response to his incarceration, "It's a serious matter to step beyond the line, to violate the law. But we must do so as a moral outcry to the world that it can't be business as usual. The time has come to expel Iran from the United Nations."

After being warned of their impending arrest, the group sat down under the large Peace Wall quoting the words of the biblical prophet Isaiah: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more."

At the rally which began several blocks away at the Iranian Mission to the UN, Weiss exclaimed, "There's a fire burning, and we must raise a voice of moral outrage. We urge that the presence of any Iranian delegation be protested, that pressure be put on countries not to trade with Iran, that state governments divest from companies trading with Iran, and that nations signed on to the Genocide Convention strongly condemn Iranian President Ahmadinejad who's threatened to wipe Israel off the map.

"We demand that the United Nations expel Iran, which has threatened to annihilate Israel, a fellow UN member state."

The group then proceeded to the headquarters of the World body, with the intent of getting arrested.

Former Deputy District Attorney, turned Conservative Rabbi, Mark Ankorn, of the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation stated prior to his arrest, "It’s not a decision I take lightly, believe me. I’ve never written a letter to the editor, never written my congressman or my senator about any issue, never been a part of a sit-down or teach-in or anything else.

"But the government of Iran denies the Holocaust and supplies the rockets that killed dozens in Israel this past summer. They furiously seek nuclear weapons and kidnap British sailors. When will it stop? When will we stand up and say, Enough?"

The Arrested Community Leaders
Rabbi Mark Ankcorn, Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation
Rabbi Moses Birnbaum, President, Long Island Board of Rabbis
Rabbi Steven Burton, Congregation Shaarei Shalom
Rafi Farber, rabbinical student, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah   
Rabbi Jeffrey Fox   
Rabbi Avidan Freedman, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
Rabbi Bruce Ginsburg, Congregation Sons of Israel
Ben Greenberg, rabbinical student, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
Yehuda Hausman, rabbinical student, Yeshivat Chovevai Torah
Rabbi Jason Herman, Congregation Beth Israel/West Side Jewish Center
Rabbi David Kalb, CLAL
Rabbi Pinchas Klein, Mount Freedom Jewish Center, Morasha
Rabbi Aryeh Leifert, Congregation Rodfei Sholom, San Antonio, Texas
Rabbi Etan Mintz, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale
Rabbi Ronald Price, Congregation Netivot Sholom, UTJ/Morasha
Glenn Richter, Amcha-Coalition for Jewish Concerns
Rabbi Aaron Rubinger, Congregation Ohev Shalom, Orlando, FL
Ross Shapiro, rabbinical student, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
Rabbi Uri Topolsky, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale
Rabbi Avi Weiss, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale
Rabbi Akiva David Weiss, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
Rabbi David Willig, Bayside Jewish Center

Read the rest.

Guns, Controls and Loonies

Good editorial in the Wall St. Journal with regard to the VTech murders and gun control:

How can a society that wants to maintain its own individual freedoms stop such a man? The reflexive answer in some quarters, especially overseas, is to blame any killing on America's "lax" guns laws. Reading a summary of European editorials yesterday, we couldn't help but wonder if they all got the same New York Times memo, so uniform was their cultural disdain and their demand for new gun restrictions.

Yet Virginia Tech had banned guns on campus, using a provision in Virginia law allowing universities to become exceptions to the state's concealed carry pistol permits. Virginia is also known for its strict enforcement of gun violations, having implemented a program known as Project Exile that has imposed stiffer penalties and expedited gun cases.

In any case, there is no connection between recent mass murder events and gun restrictions. As Quebec economist Pierre Lemieux noted yesterday, "Mass killings were rare when guns were easily available, while they have been increasing as guns have become more controlled." The 1996 murders in the Scottish town of Dunblane--17 killed--occurred despite far more restrictive gun laws than America's.

You could more persuasively argue, as David Kopel does in The Wall Street Journal today, that the presence of more guns on campus might have stopped Cho sooner. But as a general rule we are not among those who think college students, of all people, should be advised to add guns to the books in their backpacks.

A better response than gun control would be to restore some of the cultural taboos that once served as restraints on antisocial behavior. These columns long ago noted the collapse of such social and moral restraints in a widely debated editorial called "No Guardrails." Instead, after Columbine, there was a rush to blame violent videogames. But videogames or other larger media influences don't inspire mass murder when there are countervailing restraints and values instilled by families, teachers, coaches and pastors. Two generations ago, colleges felt an obligation to act in loco parentis. Today, the concept is considered as archaic as the Latin--and would probably inspire a lawsuit.

However, even those benevolent influences--were it possible to restore them--might not have made a difference in the case of Cho Seung-Hui, whose madness can't be explained by reason.

The blame game: I could see it all unfolding as I watched Keith Olbermann on the news the evening the murders happened.  I could see the cogs turning as he grasped at straws, searching for an angle, a hook, an attention-getter, and who to blame  no, HOW to blame conservatives, Republicans, and the Bush administration. 

A nutcase is a nutcase is a nutcase.  In the end, there's nothing you can do to heal every brain and psyche, and until we can, these kinds of incidents are going to happen - - and they've always happened.  It's not as if mental breakdown is a new concept.  There's no way to prevent certain people from breaking and going berserk.  In their psychosis, they will find a way to murder others - either mass murder all at once, or serial killing.  Let's work on research with regard to figuring out how to discover them earlier, and in figuring out how to help them or take them out of society.

The conservative argument: Where are the men?  Are we raising wimps and kitty cats?  Why didn't anyone take the killer down when he stopped to reload his weapon?  The only person who seemed to show courage was a Holocaust survivor of the WW2 generation. 

Our kids have the concept "responding to provocation is wrong" drummed into them in school.  A personal example: When my oldest son was in 9th grade, he was attacked by a bully whose friends circled around him so he could not leave the fight.  He had no choice but to fight back.  He was suspended for a day as a result. I went to school and let the assistant principal have it. Honestly, I don't believe in fighting battles for my children - I have always encouraged them to fight for themselves - but I was incensed in this case.  She would not listen to me and kept repeating over and over that my son should have run away and gotten a teacher to help - though it was explained to her that he couldn't. (Where were the teachers, anyway?  Why weren't they keeping an eye out on the hallway?) She said they had a no-tolerance policy.  And I said to her, "Do you really mean to tell me that my son should have just sat there and not thrown a punch while some idiot tried to beat the crud out of him?"

She shrugged.

We supported our son 100% and told him that if he were ever in that situation again to do exactly what he did. He fought the bully and won, and the kid eventually apologizing to him a week or so later.  But my son ended up with a black mark on his spotless record.  He was not a fighter and never would have started up with anyone.

Grrrr. I am still mad!

I don't know what the answer is - I don't like fighting in school anymore than that assistant principal did - but I think we are going too far in teaching our kids that violence is wrong.  Yes it's wrong, but not when it's in self-defense from a bully, a psychopath or an irrational human in the midst of a mental breakdown. 

This classroom microcosm is now playing out on the world stage, and we see on a large scale what happens when bullies and nutcases are allowed to run amok - - smashing planes into buildings, suicide murdering and rallying others to their hateful cause.

And half of our population wants to run and hide and allow it to happen.   

Virginians Sticking Together

Eldest son sent me this cartoon, noting that normally there is great rivalry between these VA schools.

Our community has been shaken by this tragedy. I spotted a young woman in the grocery store this evening all decked out in VTech gear. Seung-Hui Cho, the killer, attended high school in Fairfax County, not too far from where I live. Fairfax County Schools sent out the following email earlier today:

We want to update you on the information on events that have transpired throughout the day relating to the incident at Virginia Tech.

We have confirmation that the alleged shooter, Seung-Hui Cho of Centreville, was a student at Virginia Tech and is a 2003 graduate of Westfield High School. 

At this time, we have not received an official list of victims from the Virginia State Police and are unable to confirm any information about FCPS alumni who were killed or injured at Virginia Tech.  We are expecting that an announcement about the victims will be made tomorrow, and we will pass along that information when it is made available.

The school system's crisis support team of trained psychologists and social workers is available to work with students and adults in our schools.  Parents should feel free to contact their principal if they would like to request counseling services for their children.

We grieve along with the families and friends of the victims of this terrible tragedy, which has affected not only those affiliated with Virginia Tech but the entire state of Virginia and the nation.

Below is a partial list of community events that are planned in remembrance of the victims of the Virginia Tech incident.

* Tuesday, April 17, 8 p.m. -- Members of the Light Global Mission Church will hold a candlelight vigil at the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax. The gathering will be in the center aisle of the parking lot out in front of the Government Center. This event is open to the public.

* Wednesday, April 18 -- A vigil, hosted by the Board of Supervisors in conjunction with Faith Communities in Action, will be held in the forum of the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax.

* Virginia Tech Alumni -- The DC Chapter of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association lists a number of events at http://www.novahokie.org including:

- Friday, April 20, Hokie Hope: Orange and Maroon Effect -- Virginia Tech family members across the country have united to declare this Friday, April 20, an "Orange and Maroon Effect" day to honor those killed in the tragic events on campus Monday and to show support for VT students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, and friends. Everyone across the country is invited to be part of the Virginia Tech family this Friday and wear orange and maroon to support the families of those who were lost and support the school and community.


- Wednesday, April 18, 8 p.m. -- Great Falls chapter candlelight vigil at 8 p.m. at St. Francis Episcopal Church, 9220 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls. All are welcome.

- Wednesday, April 18, 7:30 p.m. -- candlelight vigil on the Old Town Market Square at City Hall, 300 King Street, Alexandria.

Jack Dale
Superintendent, Fairfax County Public Schools

Our rabbi sent out a message that our temple will be lighting a candle in memory at minyan tomorrow evening. 

The VTech Killer - UPDATED

A garden variety nutcase.  People saw it coming - he was referred to counseling on the basis of his creative writing in English class.  Horribly, hideously tragic.  I know it sounds like a cliche, but it is the truth:  My heart goes out to the victims, their families and friends and all who were touched by this tragedy.

Update: 

Two plays written by Cho Seung-Hui are available online, provided by a former classmate.  They are - - not right.  Disturbing. Deranged.  Ugly.  The classmate said that he and others were very concerned about Seung-Hui's state of mind.

Some May Think it's Evil or Silly, I Suppose

But it made me laugh.  Out loud.

A 60-Year Old Treasure

This is the incredible story of a collection of 178 family pictures, which were hidden in the walls of a house in Poland just before the Holocaust, only to be found some 60 years later and be returned to their rightful owners.

Here's a Guy

...with a terrific sense of humor, a creative mind and a bottomless pit of chutzpa.  Wonder if he'd like an invitation to a Memorial Day Barbecue in Virginia?

Gunman? Gunmen?

Questions continue to be raised this morning:

Shooter Lived in Dormitory, Va. Tech President Says

President Charles Steger Said There Was Possibly More Than One Shooter Involved

April 17, 2007 — - So many questions need to be answered about the shootings at Virginia Tech that killed 32 people.

Could the tragic massacre have been prevented? Did police wait too long to act? Were they aggressive enough? And why were students in the dark for so long?

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger told "Good Morning America's" Diane Sawyer this morning that there was still the possibility that there were two shooters in the separate campus attacks on Monday morning.

Steger said that the shooter who took his own life in the Norris Hall classroom building, where 30 other people were also killed, was a student of Asian descent who lived in a dormitory at Virginia Tech.

Steger referred to this person as the "second shooter."

"It appears that the second shooter was a resident in a dormitory," Steger said. "We don't have all of that confirmed but it appears he was an on-campus resident."

Sawyer asked whether there was more than one shooter involved.

"We don't know for sure. That's what we're trying to confirm," Steger said.

Steger said police had questioned a person of interest in the case.

"They have questioned them once and they'll probably continue to question the individual," he said.

Holocaust Survivor Dies at VTech Attempting to Bar the Door

(IsraelNN.com) As Israel observed Holocaust Day, thousands of miles away, A Rumanian-born Holocaust survivor gave his life in another senseless murder - and apparently in an act of heroism.

Among the 32 people killed by a lone gunman at Virginia Tech Monday is 77-year-old engineering professor, Liviu Librescu, a citizen of Israel. According to eyewitness accounts, Librescu ran to the door of his classroom and blocked it with his body – preventing the gunman from entering but getting shot to death himself as a result.

Alec Calhoun, a 20-year-old student who had been in Librescu's class in room 204, told a reporter that at 9:05 a.m. the heard screams and a loud banging sound from the next-door classroom. When the students realized it was gunfire, he said, some hid behind tables, and others leapt from the classroom's windows. Calhoun himself was among the last to jump. "Before I jumped from the window, I turned around and looked at the professor, who stayed behind, maybe to block the door. He had been killed."

Librescu is survived by his wife of 42 years, Marlena, who was with him in Virginia, and sons Aryeh and Joe who are in Israel. They intend to bury him in Israel.

Link

Horrifying Shooting at VTech- UPDATED

My oldest son knows people at Virginia Tech - including an RA at the dorm where at least some of the shootings occurred.  He lived in Blacksburg with friends last year, though he attended classes elsewhere in the area. He joined their fraternity and goes down there to visit as often as he can, maintaining many ties to students at the school.  (They made an exception to the rules to let him into the frat even though he didn't go to the school - long story).  Anyway, I thank God he's living at home this year and is thus, far away from this unbelievable nightmare.

This hits much too close to home - so many kids from our area go to school there:

The Virginia Tech Police Chief