Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and
a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You u could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the
brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.
But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.
You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!
HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them."
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health h: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9 Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Should Israel respond to Hezbollah attacks proportionately?
There is little debate among the international community that Israel has a sovereign right to defend its citizens and border from aggression that emanates from Lebanese soil via the Hezbollah terrorist group. The only argument against the Israeli response that seems to find any traction is the argument of proportionality – that Israel is fighting back too hard, and in the process is destroying the Lebanese infrastructure, and killing too many innocent Lebanese civilians.
Paramount in this discussion is the fact that Israel only wants peace with its Arab neighbors, and regrets having to cause harm to a country that is the playground for the devious military mis-adventures of Iran and Syria. The Hezbollah paymasters sit comfortably in Damascus and Tehran while they watch a fight they instigated take place on Lebanese soil. Maybe the world community should consider aiming its criticism at the source of the conflict, Iran and Syria. No country, especially a tiny country like Israel, would tolerate hundreds of suicide bombings and thousands of deadly missiles raining down on its citizens, much less have its troops killed and/or kidnapped. A harsh response is to be expected. Would it make the global community happier - if more Israelis died in order to make the deaths more proportional? How cynical.
More importantly, the Israelis have always anticipated a heavy Hezbollah bombardment of the Northern border areas, and have prepared bunkers and early warning systems to protect their citizens. If Lebanon is going to "allow" a terrorist militia to fire rockets into Israel, then they should invest in protecting their citizens from Israel's logical response. Their failure to do so is a main reason for the Lebanese civilians' death toll.
With that said, the deliberate destruction of the Lebanese infrastructure by the Israeli military serves two purposes: First of all, destroying bridges, electrical grids and airports has strategic military value. It prevents their enemy from fleeing and/or re-arming. Secondly, it sends a message to the Lebanese, the Syrians, Iranians and everyone else who considers themselves the "enemy" of Israel that the price of terrorist /military adventures against Israel is "priceless".
The death toll of Lebanese civilians is regrettable, but their lives are not worth more than an Israeli life, and the Lebanese people have allowed Hezbollah to become part of their government and wage war on Israel from their soil. Hezbollah's strategy of using civilians as human shields, and storing weapons caches in civilian homes is clearly the reason why there are more civilian casualties than the usual civilian "collateral damage".
The world calls for Israeli proportionality? There are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, and only 12 million Jews. It would not come as a surprise to anyone that at least 10% of the Muslim world (or 150 million Muslims) would love to martyr themselves if it meant that Israel would be destroyed. In the case for proportionality, it would only take 6 million Muslims to wipe out the 6 million Israelis…and the Muslim volunteers would line-up faster than you can say "72 virgins".
Those calling for proportionality are discounting the value that Israelis put on life vs. the twisted psychology behind Muslim extremists who decapitate and mutilate fellow Muslims with so much enthusiasm that it is hard to believe the atrocities that they are committing, much less what atrocities they would commit if they ever had a chance to rampage through Tel Aviv.
Some Muslims are fighting for what they believe is a right to their homeland, other Muslims are fighting to realize the pan-Arab dream of a Mideast that is 100% Muslim, others are fighting just because they hate and want to kill Israelis/Jews. To the Israelis it doesn't matter why the Arabs/Muslim want to kill them. As an Israeli father told me the other day, "they shoot a few missiles at us, we shoot a lot of missiles at them, they kill a few of us, and we kill a lot of them. We are fighting for our existence".
The entire Israeli/Hezbollah war that is dominating the global press is a result of the failure of the United Nations to enforce UN resolution 1559, in which the government of Lebanon agreed to remove Hezbollah from the border. For the past 6 years, the UN's UNIFIL force of 6,000 was reduced to 2,000 – and they sat and watched while Hezbollah not only re-armed, but hardened their defenses on the border. It is ludicrous to expect Israel to even entertain the whims of the EU or UN when it comes to exerting its sovereign rights to protect its citizens. The result of an Israeli proportional response is that it would be death by a thousand cuts. The Muslim world would easily (gladly) absorb 100,000 dead soldiers over a 2 year period, if it meant Israel would lose 100,000 too. The idea that Israel should fight a war for survival "proportionately" is absolutely ridiculous. The concept of proportionality allows the aggressor to dictate their opponent's response. That is a recipe for an endless cycle of violence. Wars are fought - and like a fire, they will burn out when one side wins.
Paramount in this discussion is the fact that Israel only wants peace with its Arab neighbors, and regrets having to cause harm to a country that is the playground for the devious military mis-adventures of Iran and Syria. The Hezbollah paymasters sit comfortably in Damascus and Tehran while they watch a fight they instigated take place on Lebanese soil. Maybe the world community should consider aiming its criticism at the source of the conflict, Iran and Syria. No country, especially a tiny country like Israel, would tolerate hundreds of suicide bombings and thousands of deadly missiles raining down on its citizens, much less have its troops killed and/or kidnapped. A harsh response is to be expected. Would it make the global community happier - if more Israelis died in order to make the deaths more proportional? How cynical.
More importantly, the Israelis have always anticipated a heavy Hezbollah bombardment of the Northern border areas, and have prepared bunkers and early warning systems to protect their citizens. If Lebanon is going to "allow" a terrorist militia to fire rockets into Israel, then they should invest in protecting their citizens from Israel's logical response. Their failure to do so is a main reason for the Lebanese civilians' death toll.
With that said, the deliberate destruction of the Lebanese infrastructure by the Israeli military serves two purposes: First of all, destroying bridges, electrical grids and airports has strategic military value. It prevents their enemy from fleeing and/or re-arming. Secondly, it sends a message to the Lebanese, the Syrians, Iranians and everyone else who considers themselves the "enemy" of Israel that the price of terrorist /military adventures against Israel is "priceless".
The death toll of Lebanese civilians is regrettable, but their lives are not worth more than an Israeli life, and the Lebanese people have allowed Hezbollah to become part of their government and wage war on Israel from their soil. Hezbollah's strategy of using civilians as human shields, and storing weapons caches in civilian homes is clearly the reason why there are more civilian casualties than the usual civilian "collateral damage".
The world calls for Israeli proportionality? There are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, and only 12 million Jews. It would not come as a surprise to anyone that at least 10% of the Muslim world (or 150 million Muslims) would love to martyr themselves if it meant that Israel would be destroyed. In the case for proportionality, it would only take 6 million Muslims to wipe out the 6 million Israelis…and the Muslim volunteers would line-up faster than you can say "72 virgins".
Those calling for proportionality are discounting the value that Israelis put on life vs. the twisted psychology behind Muslim extremists who decapitate and mutilate fellow Muslims with so much enthusiasm that it is hard to believe the atrocities that they are committing, much less what atrocities they would commit if they ever had a chance to rampage through Tel Aviv.
Some Muslims are fighting for what they believe is a right to their homeland, other Muslims are fighting to realize the pan-Arab dream of a Mideast that is 100% Muslim, others are fighting just because they hate and want to kill Israelis/Jews. To the Israelis it doesn't matter why the Arabs/Muslim want to kill them. As an Israeli father told me the other day, "they shoot a few missiles at us, we shoot a lot of missiles at them, they kill a few of us, and we kill a lot of them. We are fighting for our existence".
The entire Israeli/Hezbollah war that is dominating the global press is a result of the failure of the United Nations to enforce UN resolution 1559, in which the government of Lebanon agreed to remove Hezbollah from the border. For the past 6 years, the UN's UNIFIL force of 6,000 was reduced to 2,000 – and they sat and watched while Hezbollah not only re-armed, but hardened their defenses on the border. It is ludicrous to expect Israel to even entertain the whims of the EU or UN when it comes to exerting its sovereign rights to protect its citizens. The result of an Israeli proportional response is that it would be death by a thousand cuts. The Muslim world would easily (gladly) absorb 100,000 dead soldiers over a 2 year period, if it meant Israel would lose 100,000 too. The idea that Israel should fight a war for survival "proportionately" is absolutely ridiculous. The concept of proportionality allows the aggressor to dictate their opponent's response. That is a recipe for an endless cycle of violence. Wars are fought - and like a fire, they will burn out when one side wins.
Friday, July 14, 2006
58 years of lessons learned in the Mideast
They say that hindsight is 20/20. If that is the case, then the apparent re-writing of the rules of engagement by the Israeli military vis-à-vis their Arab/Muslim enemies - whether they are in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria or Iran is clearly a lesson learned the hard way.
Lesson #1: Land for peace is a dead issue going forward.
The Israeli pullout from Gaza - and the Israeli pullout from Lebanon years ago, only served to demonstrate that the Israeli efforts to give up "land" in exchange for "peace" has produced just the opposite – an Arab/Muslim perception of Israeli weakness. If terrorism produces Israeli concessions, isn't it logical that more terrorism would produce more Israeli concessions? If anything, Israel may have to takeover a large swath of land in both Lebanon and Gaza in order to put Arab missiles out of range.
Lesson #2: Don't trust the UN.
The Israeli pullout from Lebanon was brokered by the UN with the understanding that the Lebanese border would become de-militarized, and that the Lebanese government would re-establish control over its southern border. In addition, the UN stationed UN troops on the Israeli/Lebanese border in order to verify compliance with the peace agreement. A decade later, Hezbollah has established a significant up-graded military capability on the border, right under the noses of the UN "peacekeepers". In the most recent border incident, the UN troops were nowhere to be found (The same weak kneed UN troops did the same on the Egyptian border right before the 1973 war).
Lesson #3: Peace agreements are worthless if the facts on the ground don't back up the rhetoric.
Signing peace agreements (Oslo, Taba, and Roadmap, just to name a few) before the two parties are really ready for peace is a recipe for failure and disappointment. As long as the incitement against Israel in the Arab world continues, there can be no real peace. Given the systemic anti-Israel incitement that Palestinian society has been exposed to for the past 60 years, it will be another 25 years before they are ready for peace, presuming they were to reverse course tomorrow.
Lesson #4: The Palestinian argument against Israel – and for a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West bank must no longer be accepted as a fiat accompli.
As part of re-writing the rules, popular Palestinian catch phases like "occupation, collective punishment, etc" are mythical mantras that have no roots in reality, now that Israel has vacated Gaza and the Palestinians have endorsed a terrorist entity to govern them. The concept of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank connected by a road or train that bisects Israel, is an unworkable, unacceptable solution to the conflict. The Israeli withdrawal from Gaza was the supreme litmus test for the Palestinians to demonstrate their willingness to govern themselves peacefully – a test which they failed miserably. It must also be acknowledged that a bi-national state is also an unworkable solution, given the long-term animosity between the 2 parties. Therefore, alternative solutions to the conflict - until now considered "off the table", must be put on the table for consideration, i.e.; the West Bank and Gaza reverting back to Jordanian and Egyptian control, or moving the entire Palestinian population to Jordan (and renaming it Palestine).
Lesson #5: The next peace plan, many years from now, is going to require the Palestinians to take a leap of faith, not the Israelis.
A few lessons that are yet to be learned:
Lesson #6: Iran and Syria are the real culprits (and Lebanon their victim), and they shouldn't expect their strategy of plausible deniability to make them exempt from retaliation.
The Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist groups could not function at such a high threat level if it wasn't for certain state sponsors - primarily Iran and Syria, who provide financial, logistical, and military support. Punishing only their surrogates – Hamas and Hezbollah, is like blaming the tail of the dog for sitting on the living room sofa.
Lesson #7: The arrogance of moral superiority that handcuff both the US and Israeli military from accomplishing their task is the secret arrow in the quiver of Islamic extremists.
While the US and Israeli military are correct in trying to minimize civilian casualties, it must be remembered that WW2 would not have come to a successful conclusion had we not blanket bombed Dresden and Berlin. The Palestinian people elected a terrorist government, and the Lebanese people have allowed Hezbollah to use their soil. Both are complicate in allowing aggression to emanate from their territory, and if they suffer collateral damage, it is a result of their own inaction. International pressure for Israel to use measured responses for the past 6 years has only enabled and encouraged more violence from their Arab neighbors.
Lesson #1: Land for peace is a dead issue going forward.
The Israeli pullout from Gaza - and the Israeli pullout from Lebanon years ago, only served to demonstrate that the Israeli efforts to give up "land" in exchange for "peace" has produced just the opposite – an Arab/Muslim perception of Israeli weakness. If terrorism produces Israeli concessions, isn't it logical that more terrorism would produce more Israeli concessions? If anything, Israel may have to takeover a large swath of land in both Lebanon and Gaza in order to put Arab missiles out of range.
Lesson #2: Don't trust the UN.
The Israeli pullout from Lebanon was brokered by the UN with the understanding that the Lebanese border would become de-militarized, and that the Lebanese government would re-establish control over its southern border. In addition, the UN stationed UN troops on the Israeli/Lebanese border in order to verify compliance with the peace agreement. A decade later, Hezbollah has established a significant up-graded military capability on the border, right under the noses of the UN "peacekeepers". In the most recent border incident, the UN troops were nowhere to be found (The same weak kneed UN troops did the same on the Egyptian border right before the 1973 war).
Lesson #3: Peace agreements are worthless if the facts on the ground don't back up the rhetoric.
Signing peace agreements (Oslo, Taba, and Roadmap, just to name a few) before the two parties are really ready for peace is a recipe for failure and disappointment. As long as the incitement against Israel in the Arab world continues, there can be no real peace. Given the systemic anti-Israel incitement that Palestinian society has been exposed to for the past 60 years, it will be another 25 years before they are ready for peace, presuming they were to reverse course tomorrow.
Lesson #4: The Palestinian argument against Israel – and for a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West bank must no longer be accepted as a fiat accompli.
As part of re-writing the rules, popular Palestinian catch phases like "occupation, collective punishment, etc" are mythical mantras that have no roots in reality, now that Israel has vacated Gaza and the Palestinians have endorsed a terrorist entity to govern them. The concept of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank connected by a road or train that bisects Israel, is an unworkable, unacceptable solution to the conflict. The Israeli withdrawal from Gaza was the supreme litmus test for the Palestinians to demonstrate their willingness to govern themselves peacefully – a test which they failed miserably. It must also be acknowledged that a bi-national state is also an unworkable solution, given the long-term animosity between the 2 parties. Therefore, alternative solutions to the conflict - until now considered "off the table", must be put on the table for consideration, i.e.; the West Bank and Gaza reverting back to Jordanian and Egyptian control, or moving the entire Palestinian population to Jordan (and renaming it Palestine).
Lesson #5: The next peace plan, many years from now, is going to require the Palestinians to take a leap of faith, not the Israelis.
A few lessons that are yet to be learned:
Lesson #6: Iran and Syria are the real culprits (and Lebanon their victim), and they shouldn't expect their strategy of plausible deniability to make them exempt from retaliation.
The Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist groups could not function at such a high threat level if it wasn't for certain state sponsors - primarily Iran and Syria, who provide financial, logistical, and military support. Punishing only their surrogates – Hamas and Hezbollah, is like blaming the tail of the dog for sitting on the living room sofa.
Lesson #7: The arrogance of moral superiority that handcuff both the US and Israeli military from accomplishing their task is the secret arrow in the quiver of Islamic extremists.
While the US and Israeli military are correct in trying to minimize civilian casualties, it must be remembered that WW2 would not have come to a successful conclusion had we not blanket bombed Dresden and Berlin. The Palestinian people elected a terrorist government, and the Lebanese people have allowed Hezbollah to use their soil. Both are complicate in allowing aggression to emanate from their territory, and if they suffer collateral damage, it is a result of their own inaction. International pressure for Israel to use measured responses for the past 6 years has only enabled and encouraged more violence from their Arab neighbors.
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