Just who is it that is really targeting civilians?

The loss of life in Qana is awful. Perhaps it was poor judgment on the part of the Israeli commanders, or perhaps Hezbollah deliberately placed these innocents in harms way. We may never know the truth. And we all pray that the fighting will end and that no more innocent lives will be lost.

However, I feel compelled to remind us all something that seems to be getting overlooked in all this - Israel's targeting is based on strategic military objectives and data. Hezbollah is indiscriminately targeting anyplace their missiles will hit in northern Israel - that is to say-they are purposefully and knowingly targeting civilians, and not military or strategic targets. So before everyone goes off foaming at the mouth at the unfortunate loss of civilian lives at Qana, let's just all remember who started this shooting war, and which side has a consistent pattern of indiscriminate targeting of civilians.

I have always considered myself an advocate of peace. Israel has certainly made its share of mistakes over the decades. I will not defend those mistakes. Neither will I defend those who chose violent resistance as opposed to non-violent protest. Hezbollah is engaged in violent resistance(as is Hamas.) I wish there were some way Israel could respond to this violence without resorting to its own violence, that it could turn its swords in plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. And I wish Hezbollah and Hamas could and would do the same.

Migdalor Guy.

But there IS Jewish life in North Dakota, Rachel Silverman!

Chaverim:

This article which appeared on the JTA feed tells of one man's effort to preserve and restore a Jewish cemetery in North Dakota. It leaves readers with a rather erroneous impression.

To begin with, the story never tells where in North Dakota this cemetery is. And it certainly makes it sound as if North Dakota is currently devoid of Jewish life.

Having myself lived for ten years in Fargo, North Dakota, I can tell you that the Jewish community there is very much alive and active.

Here's what I wrote to the folks at JTA:

As a Jew who spent ten wonderful years of his adult life living in Fargo, North Dakota, I am very offended at the portrait this article paints of current Jewish life in North Dakota. There are synagogues with active Jewish communities in Fargo and Grand Forks, and other communities also have Jewish communities that come together regularly. And the Jewish cemeteries in Fargo and Grand Forks are maintained, and not overgrown and ignored. One would never know that Judaism continues to thrive in North Dakota from reading this poorly researched article.

The article itself is so lacking in factual information. It never once mentions in which town the deserted cemetery is located. It makes no reference to current Jewish communities in North Dakota. You have done these good people a disservice, and I think you ought to write the wrong, but following up with a report on North Dakota's wonderful Jewish communities.

For some info on Jewish life in North Dakota, visit:

http://www.kobrinsky.com/tbe.htm
http://nd002.urj.net/

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Jewish history in North Dakota doesn't need to just be kept alive--it IS alive. Shame on the JTA and reporter Rachel Silverman for this gross injustice and shoddy journalism.

I may have grown up in New York City, and may now live in the metro Washington, D.C. area, but I can say without hesitation that much of what and who I am now, Jewishly, was shaped and formed in the warm and wonderful Jewish community of North Dakota. It appears easy to be a Jew when surrounded by thousands of others. Out in the great plains, it takes effort. Truth be told, I think those of us living in our American shtetls and ghettos ought to consider how much effort we make. And maybe consider making aliyah to the rest of America. I didn't encounter anti-Semitism that much in North Dakota. I encountered ignorance born of people never having actually meeting someone who is Jewish! Given the chance to actually meet a Jew, they're far less likely to fall prey to the lies and mistruths of those who seek our destruction.

Think about that for Shabbat.

Migdalor Guy.

Animalistic Behaviors in Reactions to Animal School

I was directed some time ago to a Ellen C. Braun, entitled Animal School. It's based on a story that has been around for a while, and was used in an Artscroll book by "Preparing Our Children for Success" by R. Greenwald.

The video (and the original story, in its many variations) should be seen/read by anyone who parents, teaches, or otherwise affects the lives of children.

What's even more fascinating, though also in many ways sad, are the comments that hundreds have left on the raisingsmallsouls.com website about the video. A whole-hearted attempt to share an important message has been turned, by some, in a battles - between schools and home-schooling, between teachers and parents, between those with differeing views on how children with special needs should be educated, etc. Where is the love, people?

Migdalor Guy

My Random Musing for Matot-Masei

My Random Musing Before Shabbat this week for parashat Matot-Masei is entitled "First Fruit" and, unlike most of my musings, is a simple restatement of the text of Jeremiah 2:2-3. It is, simply, a prayer for Israel and her defenders, a prayer for those caught in the conflict, a caution against those who attack her, first fruit of G''d's own harvest, and a prayer for peace.

www.durlester.com/random.htm

Shabbat Shalom,

Migdalor Guy

And So It Began...

(OK, so I started to MSN Spaces blog first, and now my Blogger blog. This is a copy of the first post from my MSN Spaces blog at migdalor.sapces.msn.com)
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OK. Now I've got a "MySpace" site (and a Blogger Site,) a Windows Live personalized page, a Hotmail account linked to a Windows Live mail beta account, a personalized Google home page, a Gmail account, and a Google Calendar. Not to mention already existing customizations on a Yahoo personlaized homepage, email accounts with domaindirect (part of my personal domain, and my personal website www.durlester.com), email accounts through another domain through domaindirect,ehavanashira.org, a personal Yahoo login linked with a Yahoo personal email address and a Small Business WebHosting and Yahoo BizMail account for the synagogue I work for, Bethesda Jewish Congregation, an email account through my ISP (Comcast). I just closed my 15-year-old AOl account, but still have the email and AIM access (adriand@aol.com). And who knows, I probably have some other email addresses floating around that came free with various services like AmericanGreetings.Com or BlueMountain.com. I have two e-vite accounts, personal and business. I maintain a SmugMug photo gallery related to the ehavanashira.org website, also have a Nikonnet account, a Yahoo Pictures account, A Snapfish acoount, etc. So far, the only "social" netwrok I have ever joined was Metails, which is now Yub.

I've been online a long time, getting my first PC and information service accounts back in 1980 (I've had accounts with CompuServe, GEnie, Prodigy and a few other services.) You;d think with all this experience, I would have consolidated things by now, but instead, I just keep getting more accounts, more emails, more personalized webportal pages, etc. Perhaps it's because I've never quite found that "perfect" thing that works just the way I want it to work. There's always something that one place has that another doesn't.

Now, however, the battle seems to be shaping up. Google vs. Microsoft. Google Calendar is looking more and more attractive as a centralized place for all my calendars, and Gmail sure looks like a good place to consolidate all my email accounts - the threaded message interface is really nice. Yet windows Live also is shaping up with some nice features, and I'm reluctant to put all my eggs in one basket. So here I am.

Now, there's the additional complication that I've become rather MS Outlook-centric (though I use a number of add-ons like NEO Pro, a few Sperry Software add-ins, etc.) Right now, true sync between Google Calendar and MS Outlook is a bit of a kludge. I haven't yet tried using he Intellisyc for MSN to try and sync with the MSN calendar as I've had some pretty bad experiences with Intellisyc (both as standalone software, and for Yahoo. Plus so far, the MSN calendar doesn't appear to have the ability to have multiple calendars, and I'm sort of waiting to see how the MSN Calendar evolves whern it all shifts to Windows Live.

To add insult to injury, I just bought a new Motorola Q. Nice little SmartPhoine, but the Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone editions has a few crippled features, and not every bit of software has caught up with it yet, so I still need to keep my trusty HP iPAQ 4355 PDA around so I can use my Pocket Quicken and PocketShop. (I am trying out HanDBase on the Smartphone, to see if any of it's user-created shopping dbs will work as well as PocketShop. And I had to get PhatNotes for Smartphone so I could access the multiple Notes folders. (Also, in WM 5.0 Smartphone, categories are not available in Tasks or Calendar, only Contacts. Now I am desparately serachiong for software that will allow me to sync two different Outlook calendar folders to the MSartphone with merging them. (PocketMirrorPro Smartphone merges two Outlook calendars into the one Calendar on the Q, thoughm oddly, it doesn't then combine them when syncing back to the desktop. Oh, and did I mention that I use the HP4355 to keep my Outlook personal calendar, plus tasks and notes and contacts in sync between the home and work computer. (Don't even mention Plaxo. What a disaster when I tried using it to keep my contacts synched. I dutifully gave it a fair trails for a few mnonths, and then again when thei did a major software update, but ti still screwed things up.) Eventually, I'll use the Q to do that. To keep the separate "work" calendar in sync, I use OSA-Sync Pro from Vaita Software. It allows our little three person synagogue staff to keep our copies of Outlook in sync without and Exchange server, and, through FTP, also keeps the copy of the work calendar at home in syc as well. I use assorted flash drives to keep things like my Favorites, my AIRoboform entries,a nd improtant dopcuments in sync. I also have had a GoToMyPC account since they first started, so I can easily access my work or home computer from each other or any other location.

How did I get in this mess? Where's the true convergenece everyone said would come? It ain't here.

So tune in to follow what happens as a to try thread my way through allof this, and perhaps stay a bit aheadof the curve. Even though I've been using comptuers since High School (I went to Bronx Science and we actually had a computer there back in my days ('69-'73) and have been online since 1980, I'm still at a disadvantage top those who grew up with there always having been PCs and the internet around.

(and watch for my other thread of thoughts on being a musician who was trained on acoustic instruments trying to master the world of MIDI and digital recording.)

And yes, I'm always this verbose when I write...

Show the World That People Have Common Sense

CNN is collecting public opinion as to whether or not Israel's military response inside Lebanon is justified. As this survey will be viewed across the world and will have a strong impact on public opinion, please take a moment and VOTE to support Israel's actions in response to territorial violations and terrorism. To do so, click on the following link and scroll down to QUICK VOTE and vote YES for supporting the Israel's actions. No personal info is collected, only your vote.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/14/mideast/index.html

Words like "restraint" and "disproportionate" just miss the point. These terrorists are out to derail the peace process. Don't let them win.

Migdalor Guy

Illumination is Coming

Migdalor Guy is preparing to shine a light on all those things that need to be in the light - whether to expose them, or to highlight them.

We'll start with this highlight: Prime Minister Olmert's Address to the Knesset July 17 2006. (Links to the IMRA - Independent Media Review Analysis web site.)

'nuff said.

Migdalor Guy