Opuscula Memorial Day Here and There

ACCORDING TO MY CALENDARS, March 31 is Memorial Day in the U.S.

As I think about it, I listen to war planes flying overhead.

Going where?

Doing what?

 

I’M KEYING THIS IN YAVNE ISRAEL, a community between Tel Aviv and Ashdod (https://tinyurl.com/rjzsfwvh).

The apartment in which I sit has a “safe room,” a “mah-mahd” into which I, my Spouse, our daughter, her husband, and our three grandchildren were forced flee while unguided rockets (mortars) were sent from Gaza.

The room is maybe10 * 12 feet total. Oh yes, there also is a 75 pound lap dog that squeezes into the room. It’s “cozy.”

 

Memorial Day Paper Poppy (https://tinyurl.com/ygku53tl)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. John McCrae

AS A CHILD I remember the poppies passed out or sold by the American Legion Auxiliary ladies. I also remember that soldiers’ graves were decorated with small American flags. We weren’t so far from war back then.

 

Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery (https://tinyurl.com/2rv3cd39)

Flags still decorate graves at VA cemeteries and some Americans who died in the service of their country.

Truth be told, American went from war to war to war — WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, and “minor skirmishes” in different parts of the world.

Even then, Americans were dying on foreign soil just because they were there, e.g., Saudi Arabia Khobar Towers bombing, 25 June 1996 for which Hezbollah Al-Hejaz claimed credit and which a U.S. court found missile-provider Iran liable. See https://tinyurl.com/w3btduzx).

Both Hezbollah and Iran still are in the murder business even though the U.S. government is kowtowing to the ayatollahs — again.

Vietnam changed the attitude of Americans toward its soldiers, both volunteers and drafted. I think that was the beginning of the end of Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day in the States.

 

Sirens get attention

Here, on Israel’s Memorial Day, a siren is sounded mid-day.

It’s the same siren — at least to my ears — as the sirens that gave us a 60-second alert to get hunkered down in the safe room.

On Memorial Day, when the siren sounds, 99% of Israel comes to a stand-still.

People stop their cars in the middle of the road, get out, and stand quietly until the siren sound dies away. Then they get back in and proceed on their way. No honking horns, no expressions of anger for the journey’s interruption.

Business stops cold. Government clerks stop clerking and those in line stand quietly.

I watched as a taxi was delivering a passenger.

When the siren went off, both the driver and the passenger got out and stood by the vehicle until the siren stopped. Then the passenger went to her destination and the cabbie got back into his cab and was off to look for another fare.

There are a few people in Israel, leftists Jews and a few — not many — Israeli Arabs (including a few Members of Knesset) who would like to see Israel’s demise who refuse to honor the siren. Interestingly, not one of these people is prepared to move to “Palestine” or Gaza and Hamas’ rule, or, for that matter, to any of about 50 Muslim-dominated countries around the world.

America has its share of people who hate the country that protects them and provides opportunity for them.

Some are in Congress, some are “entertainment influencers,” some are academics who teach things about which they know nothing, e.g., Israel is an “apartheid state.” (https://tinyurl.com/yf6526z8)

A few promised to move away if an election did not go as they demanded; unfortunately for America, they reneged and stayed.

 

Too close to war

Almost every Israeli family has lost at least one close relation to the on-going attacks from Israel’s neighbors, by direct combat, by suicide murderer, or a crazy who wants to die for Allah.

(I don’t see any Muslim politicians, in Israel or elsewhere, that are prepared to die for a cause. Poor, uneducated, unemployable people, promised a permanent stipend for their survivors by the politicians, sign up.)

By contrast, in the States the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was front and center as he tried to bring racial peace. How many politicians — anywhere — would do the same for their cause?

Perhaps because every Israeli family, save for possibly the newest immigrant, has suffered a loss during a hot or “cold” (terrorism) war, Memorial Day in Israel is treated with the respect it deserves.

It is a somber day, one of reflection and one of hope.

Maybe, someday when peace with Israel’s neighbors has gone on for a generation, maybe Israelis will become Americanized and insist on a day off to bar-be-que or go to the beach. (Unlike he U.S., Israel Memorial Day is not a holiday from work.)

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Opuscula DUMBocrats Really ARE Dumb

TODAY'S EMAIL IN-BOX contained an appeal to help fund “Team Haley.”

“Team Haley”’s candidate, Dumbocrat Haley Stevens, is running in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District.

Why not toss in a few bucks?

 

BY THE NUMBERS:

1. My voter registration is in south Florida.

2. I am a registered Republican.

3. I am an intelligent human being currently living outside the U.S. (making me ineligible to vote for ANY local candidate).

Not the first time.

Before I received the begging email from the Haley campaign, I received several emails from Ohio hopefuls.

Dembocrats both.

To the best of my recollection, I have never even spent a night in a motel in either Michigan or Ohio.

I am a native Hoosier who moved to south Florida at age 10 — 68 years ago.

While I often vote a split ticket, I always have been a registered Republican. I can’t say I always am happy with the GOP candidates, but call it laziness, I never changed affiliations.

Perhaps because I share a name of a former U.S. senator, presidential hopeful, twice astronaut, and Marine colonel (I was Air force enlisted) perhaps I could forgive the Dumbocrat’s inability to put two-and-two together when hunting for voters or their money.

Action News Investigation (https://tinyurl.com/7tj49a4z)

No cost voter rolls

Most Dumbocrats find it easier to write down names from headstones than to actually solicit funds. Chicago and Tammany Hall are justly famous for these shenanigans.

Both infamous Dumbocrat hot spots also are famous for buying votes. (There are those who contend that fraudulent ballots put Biden/Harris-Emhoff inn the White House.)

I would not want to be associated with a party that seems not to care a fig for the U.S. Constitution when it is convenient and that supports insurrection (e.g., Black Lies Matter).

LA Times (https://tinyurl.com/yt9b5472)

Pitting Americans against Americans

It is, in my opinion, largely, albeit not solely, the Dumbocrats have brought Americans close to another civil war. Civility is a thing of the past — just listen to “The Squad” attack anyone who dares hold a different position.

“Listen” is the key word.

Today, no one listens to what others have to say. If your opinion is different than my opinion, I won’t hear yours and I will denigrate it even if I'm not certain what it is.

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Opuscula Iron Dome fails To protect From shrapnel

ISRAEL’S “IRON DOME” anti-missile system is good.

So good, in fact, that even the U.S. is putting it into place.

“Iron Dome” is probably 98% effective — expensive, but effective — in knocking out the missiles fired at Israeli civilians from Gaza and Syria/Lebanon.

But . . .

 

EVEN WHEN “IRON DOME” destroys an incoming missile, civilians — sometimes Muslim civilians — are injured or killed BY FALLING DEBRIS.

Indeed, more injuries and property damage are caused by fragments of incoming missiles that “Iron Dome” destroys than by the few missiles that get past “Iron Dome.”

Always on the defensive

Since its founding, Israel always has been on defense.

In the 50’s and 60’s, Israeli towns were dotted with entrances to underground shelters. (Americans and Russians will remember the bomb shelters of the same period.)

 

Israeli civilians running to shelter to avoid enemy mortars

 

Today, all new apartments include a shelter room to protect from both flying debris and poison gas. (One Israeli child murdered by Hamas died when shrapnel entered the safe room via a window that should have been shuttered.) Older apartments have common shelters.

In the south, where many homes are single-family, the landscape still is dotted with shelters.

60 seconds

By the time an incoming mortar is detected, Israelis have one minute — 60 seconds — to get into a shelter.

They are supposed to stay in the shelter for at least 10 minutes hoping the mortars have creased.

Problem is, Hamas and Hezbollah like to fire mortars, wait a bit, and fire more mortars.

Rushing into a shelter several times over a few hours is demoralizing, even if the shelter is in an apartment.

It also takes a toll on children, pets, and even newcomers to Israel.¹

Fortunately the warning siren’s sound is distinct from that of emergency vehicles.

Mortars, not guided missiles

Despite funding from Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah so far have produced only mortars.

These mortars lack guidance systems.

Why spend money on guidance systems when the intent is to murder indiscriminately.

Unlike Israel Defense Forces (IDF) precision guided missiles that have pin-point accuracy and spare, whenever possible, non military objectives. Hamas and Hezbollah commit war crimes by targeting civilian populations. (The media seem to ignore this not so subtle point of law.)

Never mind that some of the mortars kill fellow Muslims in Israel.

Never mind that a few mortars land inside Gaza and Lebanon, killing their own people.

Mortars are cheap; precision missiles are expensive. Iron Dome anti-missile missiles also are expensive.

The canard is that the U.S. gives Israel dollars for its self defense.

What the U.S. really is doing is funding U.S. arms manufacturers since the “donated” dollars only can be spent to buy American weaponry. Unfortunately, at the same time, Israel is a proving ground for U.S. arms manufacturers.

One day, either Hamas or Hezbollah will fire mortars at Jerusalem and destroy the mosque down to the Temple’s foundation. Will Jordan, that allegedly controls the mosque, try to rebuild? Will Israel allow Jordan to rebuild.

While there IS a “peace” pact between Israel and Jordan, the Jordanians by and large still hate Israel. Most of Jordan’s current population are “Palestinians,” descendants of the same people who tried to overthrow the Jordanian government in what is known as “Black September.” (see https://tinyurl.com/59sjh5es and https://tinyurl.com/5yjw93mr)

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t

It is interesting that despite precision missiles, Israel is accused by the media of disproportionate response. After all, the media notes, Israel has the Iron Dome and Hamas and Hezbollah don’t. (Hamas and Hezbollah could stop firing missiles at Israeli civilians and they would not NEED an Iron Dome.) The “ disproportionate” claim also applies to causalities. Israel protects its citizens; Hamas and Hezbollah hide behind their civilians.

As an aside, if Israel DID flatten Gaza, how would that be different than what England and the U.S. did to Dresden Germany (https://tinyurl.com/w7kxfyww) or the nazis did to London (https://tinyurl.com/evmv7bk), or what the U.S. was forced to do twice: in Nagasaki and in Hiroshima, Japan? (https://tinyurl.com/t2j7f4xz)

Caveat

In case the reader is not aware, this is keyed in Yavne, Israel (see map at https://tinyurl.com/8fb9aprx). This scrivener is on the ground, unlike some of the reporters who get ”news”feeds from those who hate Israel and want to destroy it and the media that disseminates these total or partial untruths.

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Sources

1. This scrivener is not a newcomer to Israel and well remembers mortars being fired at Zefat when he lived in northern Israel c 1977.

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

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Opuscula Jews, Muslims Work together Despite media

IT IS MY MISFORTUNE to have spent more than a week in Tel HaShomer/(Haim) Sheva hospital near Tel Aviv .

I am closer to Assuta hospital in Ashdod, but my PCP sent me “north” to avoid Hamas’ rockets.

What I write is from my personal experience. First hand. On the scene.

As Jack Webb (Dragnet’s Sgt. Joe Friday) would say: “Just the facts.”

 

No difference in care or practice (Shomo Cohen cartoon, Israel Hayom, 6 May 2021 (https://tinyurl.com/3annkkww)

 

WHILE SOME PEOPLE CAN identify an Arab by their accent, I cannot. But then, I really don’t try . . . or care.

As a patient in Tel HaShomer, all I know is that I received — at a minimum — professional care. Most of the hospital’s medical staff also were kind and almost all were pleasant.

One or two had outstanding personalities.

For the most part, the caregiver’s religion was irrelevant.

Racist? No, humor It also generally was not a topic of discussion. There was one exception: an exchange between a Jewish patient and a Muslim nurse.

Patient: “I fasted all day.
Nurse: “I fasted all month! (Ramadan)

The exchange brought laughter from the medic and patient as well as other patients (this scrivener) in the room. Everyone knew Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, and saw the nurse was a 20s-something male compared to the patient’s 70-plus years. No one was offended.

There are some “obvious” Muslims, identified by their apparel. I shared a ride with a Druze couple; there was no favoritism by the Muslim driver. Druze claim not to be Muslims; I’ll accept that.

The medical staff is roughly 70 percent Muslim. That includes doctors, nurses, and aides.

Muslims work for Jews; Jews work for Muslims; all work for the patients.

Movin’ on up Ethiopians, the “new kids on the block,” make up the majority of the cleaning crews, although there are “Russians” also on cleaning duty. Many Ethiopians came to Israel with no education — they are getting it now and, like others before them, are moving up the career ladder.

I had blood drawn by Jews and by Muslims. A Russian ex-pat was great, but two other aides — Jews, Muslims? — were even better: no pain.

Tel HaShomer is a teaching hospital affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tel Aviv, so it is not unusual to see a “professor/doctor” making rounds with one or more students. Unless you read the ID badges, there is no way to know which doctor-to-be is Jewish, Muslim, or “other.”

Silence is golden – at 1 a.m. True, if you listen carefully you may hear Arabic spoken in the halls — by staff and by patients. By and large, I found the nurses on the 11-to-7 shift uncommonly loud. Other shifts were much better, but then they generally did not need to worry about sleeping patients.

I worked in a U.S. military hospital and briefly at a small private hospital, so I KNOW there is no excuse for loud talking when patients are trying to sleep.

Great way to lose weight. I won’t comment on the food except to state that my “no salt, no sugar” diet generally was inedible. That could just be me. The men and women that brought the food were as professional and kind as the medical staff; that the veggies were cooked to mush was not their fault.

I got a pass for Friday night-to-Saturday night and over that 25 hour period I managed to eat everything in sight; no question: it was the hospital food that was the problem.

The whole concept of apartheid or Muslims as second class citizens is, at least at Tel HaShomer, complete bovine excrement.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

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Opuscula Random thoughts As missiles fall On Israeli civilians

Honesty in blogging. I am keying this in Yavne Israel. Yavne sits between Gaza City and Tel Aviv (see map, below). Gaza’s rulers — Hamas and their fellows — send unguided missiles into Israel literally day and night. As the missiles lack a guidance system — they basically are long-range mortars and a few drones, compliments of Iran — those that make it past Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system often fall on civilian targets.

In most places this is considered a “war crime,” but not when Israelis — Christians, Druze, Jews, Muslims, others — are the victims.

 

Check points

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A US/CANADA OR US/MEXICO BORDER CHECK POINT AND AN ISRAEL/PLO BORDER CHECK POINT?

• Both stop people planning to cross.

• Both demand residency documentation.

• Both want to know WHY a person wants to enter.

• Both check for contraband and weapons.

• Both usually allow the person to enter for a specific time.

SO TELL ME, WHY IS THE ISRAELI/PLO CHECK POINT MORE ONEROUS THAN CANADA/U.S. OR MEXICO/U.S. CHECK POINTS?

You’ll never know reading the NY Times

Obama CIA director and New York Times opinion writer John Brennan singled out Israel for not living up to his moral standards. (https://tinyurl.com/264543xk)

Brennan begins his article by personalizing the “humiliation” of a Palestinian child and her father at an Israeli checkpoint, described in a documentary that he recommended to President Joe Biden.

The NYT writer chooses not to add any personal anecdotes to tug at your heartstrings of equally compelling stories of Israelis murdered by Palestinians who crossed into Israel. There was the incident of two men hiding rifles within prayer rugs and killing Jewish soldiers at point-blank range at a checkpoint near Bethlehem. (ibid.)

A few words about Brennan from Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/6e2d68f7):

Brennan began his CIA career as an analyst and spent 25 years with the agency. He was a daily intelligence briefer for President Bill Clinton. In 1996, he was CIA station chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, when the Khobar Towers bombing killed 19 U.S. servicemen. (So much for Brennan's "intelligence.")

You won’t find it on Google

At least six Israelis — including a Muslim father and his child — have been killed by Hamas’ missiles fired indiscriminately into Israel.

Do a “Google search” for Israelis killed by Hamas rockets in 2021” (I narrowed the field a bit) and what “hits” do I get? See the image below. The query was keyed at 11 a.m. Israel time (3:32 a.m. NYT time).

Screen capture of https://tinyurl.com/fn964afk

Even the Mafia knew better

Back in the day (c 1970) when I was a reporter in Trenton NJ I worked with an old timer named Harry Blaise. Harry covered the state courthouse and one of the cases was of a Mafia boss. Harry and The Boss had a relationship — not exactly adversarial but less than strictly professional. The Boss, Harry told me, often would see Harry in the hall and give him a pistol finger. (☛)

Harry was not concerned for, as he said, the Mafia never attacked reporters knowing that it it did, the media would hound the cops until and arrest was made, then hound the courts until there was a conviction.

Time have changed.

Some Israeli Muslims attacked a beat a tv news reporter.

The incident made the news on the reporter’s channel, but then the issue “disappeared.”

Much of the media in Israel leans (or falls over) to the left, unlike the U.S. in the 70s.

I once stood in the center of a group of black protesters — they had a legitimate complaint — and although not winning a popularity contest, I never was threatened or felt threatened.

Times change.

Cutting off nose to spite the face

Muslims in Israel may feel like “second class” citizens — despite sitting in parliament (Knesset), as city mayors, on courts low and high, being commanders in the national police, and in as few cases, IDF officers and soldiers. (Muslims are not, unlike Jewish citizens, obligated to serve in the army, albeit they are encouraged to perform national service in their own communities.)

Muslims and Jews work together in hospitals, in rescue groups (e.g., Mogan David Adom), in private and public service. Muslims have the vote, they can live anyplace they can afford (some have beautiful homes that most Israeli Jews — this scrivener included — cannot HOPE to afford), own businesses of all types and sell to all customers, yet some, mostly the 18 to 30 set, egged on by politicians and preachers insist on taking to the streets, with the end result being that they are generating a huge prejudice against ALL Muslims.

One man who lives in a “mixed” building now is afraid to go into the building’s shelter for fear this neighbors will attack him. Right or wrong, the fear is there.In the end it will cost the Muslims far more than their non-Muslim neighbors, not only in good will but on the “bottom line.”  

Shomo Cohen cartoon, Israel Hayom, 6 May 2021 (https://tinyurl.com/3annkkww)

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

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Opuscula Return to Sender: How to stop missiles Fired from Gaza

ISRAEL IS — NOT “AGAIN,” BUT “STILL” — BEING ATTACKED BY MISSILES FROM GAZA.

The U.S. and leftists around the world blame Israel for the attacks.

The first shots were fired from Gaza. Missiles fall indiscriminately on children, old people, and people in their homes.

Israel retaliates by leveling Hamas sites; Hamas just changes venues and continues the attack.

Israel could, and in my opinion should, end the attacks by giving back to Gaza what Gaza sends to Israel.

 

Hamas rocket strikes Israel (MAHMUD HAMS | Credit: AFP )

 

TIT FOR TAT

I believe the only way to stop the indiscriminate attacks on Israel is for Israel to fire rockets indiscriminately back into Gaza.

During World War 2, all the warring parties bombed civilian targets. Dresden, London, and Nagasaki quickly come to mind. (The Japanese sent fire balloons over the U.S. west coast causing minor physical damage; psychological damage was something else.)

While there are those who live well in Gaza, shopping in super-malls for ISRAELI-MADE goods (!), most Gazans are reportedly poor and lack what most Americans and Europeans consider “basic necessities.”

I have not been to Gaza and rely only on reports — some pro, some con.

Hamas allegedly rules Gaza with an iron hand and is pressured by other anti-Israel Islamic groups, e.g., Islamic Jihad and Islamic Brotherhood, to maintain control over the strip.

For all the claimed oppression of the people, they have not been pushed far enough to revolt.

So far, all Israeli attacks on Gaza have been precisely targeted and limited to Hamas sites and leaders.

Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland

After WW2, Russia, then the now former USSR, took control of many Eastern European countries, including Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland. The Russians installed Communist dictators to rule the countries.

The USSR ruled with a heavy hand, much as Hamas etc. does today in Gaza.

Eventually, these and other Warsaw Pact countries forced the Russians out, often by successful partisan attacks. (The Russians would call these people “terrorists.” Perspective.)

Russia’s presence was almost over whelming, but the people prevailed.

Granted, there was a cost. Some partisans were injured; some died.

But the Russians were sent packing and the people had control of their countries.

The “bottom line” for the Czechs, the Hungarians, and the Poles was that they had to get rid of the Russians no matter what the cost.

They did.

It can be done. It was done.

Gazans can do the same.

Currently Gazans apparently are willing to put up with Hamas et al’s heavy-handedness, lack of electricity, lack of potable water, lack of employment.

If Israel were to do as Hamas does, and indiscriminately fire missiles into Gaza, one missile into Gaza for every missile fired from Gaza, the Gaza “man in the street” might decide it was time to rid the strip of the despots.

When the children, the seniors, and the average Gazan find themselves under attack by Israeli missiles in retaliation for missiles fired from Gaza, perhaps the people will cast out Hamas et al.

Only Gazans can end Hamas terror

The “bottom line” is that the Gazans must want peace with Israel, a permanent cease fire at a minimum.

The only way this can be accomplished is if the Gazan “man in the street” casts off Hamas’ yoke and forms a government that cares about ALL the people of Gaza, not just Islamic leadership.

It is unfortunate, but the impetus may have to come from Israeli missiles falling indiscriminately on all Gazans.

Israelis and Gazans deserve to live in peace, without fear of missiles falling on them.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

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Opuscula If life is so bad, Why remain In U.S., Israel ?

LET ME BE PERFECTLY CLEAR, I am a dual national — U.S. by birth and Israeli by “Law of return” — and I am NOT about to cancel either one.

Neither country is “perfect.” I don’t know any place that is perfect, but I notice that there are
FAR MORE PEOPLE TRYING TO ENTER THAN TRYING TO LEAVE
both the United States and Israel.

 

IF THE U.S. is so “racist,” then why do blacks stay; there are, after all, many countries that are predominately black; that have black-led governments, and that would welcome educated blacks with open arms. Or perhaps the stories I have read abut ex-pat blacks are just lies; figments of a “woke” imagination.

Muslims who want to change the character of the country — vs. those who truly want to integrate into the surrounding society — can pack their bags and go to any one of about 30 countries where more than 90% of the citizens are followers of Islam. (https://tinyurl.com/5x6ps56w) Not Islamic enough?

There are 26 predominantly Muslim countries that have anchored Islam or a specific form of it in their constitution as a state religion. (https://tinyurl.com/2v6t969s)

Muslim world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_world)

Opuscula Is there hope For Left, Right To coexist ?

I AM A DUAL NATIONAL.

Both the countries of which I am a citizen are being pulled apart in an ideological war between the far left and far right.

Those of us in the middle have little control over either side.

Consider two siblings fighting over a toy — usually the toy loses, and that means BOTH sides lose.

 

Fighting children (https://tinyurl.com/s75v3vnr)

Similar to the bear in the above cartoon, those of us in the middle suffer the most.

The fear is that the extremists will bring about a new “civil” war.

The U.S. War for Southern Independence or States Rights war, America’s civil war, ended on 9 April 1865. That’s more than 165 years ago, but hard feelings still exist among some.

The war was NOT fought to “free the slaves.”¹ Mr. Lincoln’s war allegedly was to preserve the Union, despite the Constitution’s permission for states to withdraw from the union. Lincoln’s proclamation came on 1 January 1863; the war formally commenced on 12 April 1861. More than 623,000 Americans died during the war. (https://tinyurl.com/3bap8752)

Despite numerous programs to help former slaves and their generations integrate into society, America’s white “progressives” mantra remains the same: America is racist.

It is interesting to note that these white liberals encourage blacks from their own well-guarded estates where only a very few select blacks will be welcomed.

Integration is necessary . . . just not in MY neighborhood.

An aside

The “progressives” and their JINO friends are telling “white” Americans we are “too white. That America is racist.

SO PERHAPS someone can explain to me what happened to:

Uncle Ben, the comfortable, albeit black face, of the rice product. Nothing demeaning about the dapper gentleman. Gone.

Aunt Jemima, a black woman, who before admen "slimmed her down,” was the warm, welcoming face of hot cakes. The slimmed down version looks too busy to hug a child. Gone. My personal “Aunt Jemania” was Aunt Bessie, a WW2 Gold Star mother who always had time to hug a child.

Uncle Remus, the Aesop of the new world, gave us morality stories, but was shelved long ago by the Disney company. Uncle Remus, supposedly a house slave past his prime, taught us — without regard to skin color — to prefer brains over brawn. Gone. Br’r Rabbit had to go into hiding after his confrontation with Br’r Fox’s Tar Baby. (Lawd, don’t throw me into that brier patch.)

Shall we no longer learn about the Buffalo Soldiers (black cavalry and infantry regiments), or the Tuskegee Airmen?

Frederick Douglas, with his Afro hairstyle, probably will be allowed to keep his place in history since he was, according to Wikipedia, “an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman.”

While the Socialists and Communists complain America is “too white,” THEY are the ones erasing any and all black presence.

While “whitening” America, the progressives” and JINOs may as well consign West Side Story to the back shelf as it is a “brown” Romeo and Juliette (even if few of the actors actually were Latino).

Burn all the cowboy movies, especially Cisco Kid (with sidekick Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo as Poncho) and The Lone Ranger (with sidekick Jay Silverheels as Tonto). People of color.

Will Chinese Charlie Chan be replaced on library shelved by white Belgian Hercule Poirot?

Coolies helped build the west despite localized discrimination; are they to be cast into the dustpan of “whiteness” because of their sensible headgear?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s concentration camps for Japanese-, German-, and Italian-Americans may be relegated to a footnote in history — after all, FDR is the leftists’ god with feet of clay.

Top Row Left-to-Right

"Uncle Ben" Frank Brown * "Aunt Jemima" Nancy Green * "Uncle Remus" James Baskett * Frederick Douglass

Bottom Row Left-to-Right

"Poncho" Leo Carrillo * "Tonto" Jay Silverheels * "Charlie Chan" Stanley Toller * Hercule Peirot (many actors) * Chinese laborers c 1871

 

In Israel, ex-pat American leftists have banished the word “Cushie” — meaning a person from Cush where the general population was black — and by fiat ruled that henceforth blacks will be known as “she-hor-im” (blacks). Too bad “shhorim” sounds very much like “she-KOR-im” (drunks). Did anyone asks the black Ethiopians what they preferred. (It is said that the Queen of Sheba was a “woman of color.”)

It’s not what you say, but how it; listen to a bigoted Euro-Jew refer to the “swartza” (black person) in the U.S. “Cushie” never had a pejorative connotation by Israelis in Israel. (I live here.)

These same ex-pats also manage to whine about illegal immigrants in South Tel Aviv.

South Tel Aviv is an unsafe home to relatively poor Israelis, far from the safe areas inhabited by the ex-pats (and politicians). It’s not fair to label ALL those asylum seekers as potential murderers and criminals, although too many turned out to be just that. (Sounds like the U.S.-Mexican border issues.)

Israel needs more Muslims in parliament (Knesset), the ex-pats shout.

While that in itself is a good thing, Israel’s leftists are promoting as Members of Knesset (MKs) people who actively promote destruction of Israel.

While the Knesset is more conservation than liberal, Israel’s judicial system is controlled by the left.

Lacking a constitution, there is an on-going battle between the elected officials (MKs) and appointed officials (judges).

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Sources

1. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed "all persons held as slaves within any States, or designated part of the State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." (https://tinyurl.com/556yv4t5)

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

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