Very confusing information coming from Jerusalem. According to witnesses, one, possibly two, infiltrators entered the dining hall in a Yeshiva at around dinner time Israeli time and opened fire. At this time, the numbers of deceased is misleading with the number listed at different sources anywhere from 4 to 7. There are unconfirmed reports that one of the gunmen (if there were two) was wearing some form of explosive. This happened around 1.45 Eastern time. According to Jerusalem Post, the school in question is the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva located in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood, a very religious neighborhood with many yeshivas.. The article also states that approximately 40 people are wounded and that the two gunmen are dead. CNN is reporting that there is celebration in Gaza over the attack. It has been a relatively long time since Jerusalem has witnessed incidents of this magnitude.Though Palestinians are celebrating the crime, with intense gunfire near the Prime Minister's home, it is unknown who the gunmen were or whether this was politically motivated. Israel had launched forces in Gaza last week but withdrew them on Tuesday. There has also been no claim of responsibility. Though it may appear to be clear that is a retaliatory strike against Israel, it may not be. It may be a school shooting like the ones we have suffered through here in the US as well as in other nations of the world.
Links: Ynet, Jpost
Earlier today, here in the United States in Times Square, New York, there was an explosion at an Army recruiting office. Some believe a cyclist is was recorded passing by the office not long before the blast may be involved if not the bomber. The explosion happened at 3.39 Eastern time this morning. No one was injured.
Israeli Army Radio with the Ambulence service backing it up have increased the number of dead to 8. CNN has also just reported that two bombs went off within moments of each other in Baghdad.
The Battle of Tai'erzhuang began today March 24th. It was part of the larger Battle for Xuzhou that would see its climax in May. This was mostly the Japanese underestimating the fighting spirit of the common rural farmer.
Two Generals Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi had plans to encircle the Japanese forces at Tai'erzhuang. The Japanese were over confident and overlooked flaws in their plans.
Two Generals Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi had plans to encircle the Japanese forces at Tai'erzhuang. The Japanese were over confident and overlooked flaws in their plans.
I started listening to different music today. Well, its not altogether different. I've heard it all my life. And to say I'm listening to different music is really an understatement. I listen to anything. But I was listening to the music of my parents. The reason is complex.Unlike most of my peers, I grew up with heavy doses of Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles, Johnny Rivers, the Delfonics, the Beach Boys, the Four Tops and Frank Sinatra. I listened to everything from Doris Day and Bing Crosby, to the early days of Rock like Bill Haley and Buddy Holly to the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry and beyond to CCR, Hendrix, the Mamas and the Papas and Jefferson Airplane.
My parents songs were the soundtrack of my life before I became more passionate about my own generation's music, namely alternative like Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden, just to name a few that were played on REV 105. Funny, when everyone started getting into the Doors at my school (usually the same kids who dug Charles Manson), I really wasn't that impressed. I'd been hearing the Doors for a long time. Still, to this day, I can watch one of those stupid informercials for gazillion cds and I know EVERY song like I lived in the era myself. I hadn't listened to them lately. The oldies station around here started playing more 80's stuff which frankly, I'm kind of sick of. They only have like 200 80's songs and I could sing all of them perfectly while being hung upside down with the mzzle of a gun in my mouth. And I might even prefer that than listening to Come on Eileen!!!! Lately, I've actually been into big band and World War II music.
I said the reason was more complex and it is. I go through genres of music in cycles of obsession. This means I obsess about one style or era of music until I can pee it. Then I move on. But its abrupt. First, I begin to listen to old staples. I keep staples lists on my mp3 player for such occasions. Then I might think of something while listening to a staple or something enters my head randomly. Some thing like that happened but again, its more complex. I'll tell ya the song later.
First, I have to admit, I'm gratified by the increase in political participation this election. It's about time. And I have to admit, if they wasn't a distasteful war, then we wouldn't be so fired up. But I sometimes wonder what direction are we headed? It seems that we are getting more divided as things progress. The last time this many people were fired about politics, politicians died.
So, this brings me to the fear that even with all our hope for change and so much involvement, I just can't think that the upheaval in this country will end. In fact, I believe that we are on the precipice of the worst of it all. Yeah, I'm telling you getting George W. Bush out of the White House is only the start. There are more problems in this country. The uninsured, illegal immigration, corporatism.... the inequities our forbears have given us is now inadequate. The world they built for us is now outdated.
I'm not saying there's going to be a civil war. There may be fighting in the streets. If there are any National Guardsmen to call up, they'll be brought in to restore order. Bottom line: Things are gonna get worse before they get better. And its kind of predictable. Generations are cyclical. Some would consider me a Generation X. If that is so, it may explain why I, until a year ago, was incensed by the reluctance of kids to get involved in the political struggle. It seemed so many were unwilling to turn of the iPods and interact with other people. And those that were active were so intolerant of other points of view that they irrelevant.
I found a website that explains a bit about the cycles of generations. In a way, everything really does keep turning. There are 4 type of generations: Prophets, Nomads, Heroes and Artists. It should come as no surprise that the Generation that fought the Nazis was Heroes. The following generation after was the Silent Generation. It explains that there are two major events during these cycles: a spiritual one and a secular one.
After the secular one (WWII) there is an euphoria. After this euphoria there is a Spiritual event. The generation of my parents was the Baby Boomer. The spiritual event they went through was the 60's. I come close to falling into the succeeding generation: Generation X. I find myself falling more increasingly into the Heroic cycle that my younger brother is in. This may be that I emotionally matured slower than my peers.Supposedly, there is a large secular event that should arrive somewhere between 2010 and 2020. With this thought in mind, I assert that things will get worse before they get better. My nephews will likely be a part of the next Artistic generation which will likely be silent. My niece is almost through high school which places her firmly in the Heroic cycle. I guess this idea of generational cycles really places us as actors within eras with little control of how we act or think. But I think it is less exacting.
The reason I'm bringing all this up is because we repeat history but are we even sure what history we are repeating? We are headed toward a cycle not unlike that facing the GIs who fought World War II. They endured an economic depression and then pulled themselves together to fight a terrible and destructive war. We are facing similar dilemmas. Is World War III soon?
So we are headed toward something terrible but have no control over it. Hopefully we will be able to confront it. The song I was listening to that got me thinking about this was "What a Wonderful
World" which always conjures up images of Vietnam...sans psychedelia. It doesn't hurt that I'm listening the The Who's "Won't get fooled again", all 8 minutes and 30 glorious seconds of it!!!! Anyways, if any of that made sense they yay!! But I think I rambled a fair bit.
This is the site that outlines the generational cycles were are unwitting participants in.
This site is for an online radio station called Radio Vietnam which plays songs from the Vietnam Era.
Kosovo declared independence today. if you can't remember where Kosovo is, its at the southern end of Serbia and borders Albania at its upper east border. The most important thing to know is that it is located in the Balkans so named for the Balkan mountain range that extends through Serbia and Bulgaria. The entire peninsula, including Greece, is called the Balkan Peninsula.The Balkans has been notably unstable since 1991. In truth, Yugoslavia, ruled with a firm hand by Tito, was held together by the Communist Government. The collapse of said government spurned the region into upheaval. The early '90's there was a war between Croatia nad Serbia. And then Serbia made war and genocide on Bosnia. The complexity of these wars cannot be easily distilled but I'll try.
Religion is a key part of identity in this area. In Serbia, many of the citizens were Serbian Orthodox. In Croatia, the people were for most part Roman Catholic. And the alphabet they use reflects that. In Serbia, the Cyrillic alphabet is used. In Croatia, the Roman alphabet is used. This goes back to the schism. In the 11th Century, there was a Schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox. The two churches divided for the most part, along the same boundaries that the two halves of the Roman empire in the 5th Century. Look at the map:
Roman Empire at Fall:
.PNG)
Blue = West; Pink = EastSo, is anyone surprised about this? What it opens up is the question about other breakaway nations such as Chechnya in Russia, Kurdistan in Iraq and Turkey, Abkhazia in Georgia, and Basque separatists in Spain and France. If one nation can decide to create its own new state, then any nation can. As an American, I should respond that this acceptable, considering the history of my home country. And I do. But I understand the complexity of other nations and their attitudes toward territory. But there comes a time when states need to make a clean break of it. It comes down to the question "What have you done for me lately?"
Republican Mitt Romney has dropped out of the Presidential Race. Even before giving the speech in Boston, the news outlets were buzzing about what would happen to Romney's 280 or so (depending on who you go by) delegates. There are state rules and party rules. Does one half go to John McCain and another half go Mike Huckabee? Are they proportional to the amount that those other candidates also managed to win in those primaries?Say, if McCain won 22% in Minnesota, Romney won 44% in Minnesota with Huckabee taking 20% and Paul taking the remaining 13%. (This is hypothetical. I'll check the numbers later). if this is the case then McCain gets all of Romney's 44% in addition to his own? Or does he get all? Well, the GOP primaries are for the most part WTA (Winner-take-all), but there of course exceptions such as California which went in favor of McCain but didn't give him all its delegates. One would have to assume that the delegates themselves would need to make that decision. As yet, many of these delegates have yet to be chosen. We keep pandeying about this word delegate but there aren't any delegates yet. Hmm....
All this could be for not. In Minnesota, a caucus state, the people could still choose to support Romney despite the end of his campaign. Delegates could switch to Huckabee making these delegates spoilers so to speak. The RNC could be a riot just like the DNC. I'm really hoping it isn't. I live in Minnesota.
The articles about the speech were void of actual quotes from Romney. It seems in their hurry to get an article out with a grinning McCain, they decided not to even listen to the former Governor from Massachusetts. i mean, he's still an important figure in American Politics!!! Give him his due, people! They even referred to him as a droppout. Thats a little crass , if you ask me. It's like he decided to stop going to high school to smoke weed and bad mouth his country.
Update: MSNBC updated their article to give a couple of quotes... well, I guess someone listened.
CNN, which counts Romney having 286 delegates, says that it puts McCain at a margin of 78 for getting the nomination. Aren't they jumping the gun a little? We still don't know if that is where the delegates will go. By Romney releasing his delegates, there are allowed to decide their own destiny, even if they don't know who they are yet. Only in America could we have this kind of kerfluffel.
This headline made me pause. I thought it said rape. My mistake.
I had to peek at the numbers for Minnesota where I knew Romney had won. I wasn't off by much at all! I provided the link for verification.
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitt Romney | 25,702 | 41.93% | 36 |
| John McCain | 13,552 | 22.11% | 0 |
| Mike Huckabee | 12,322 | 20.10% | 0 |
| Ron Paul | 9,717 | 15.85% | 0 |
| Rudy Giuliani | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Total | 61,293 | 100% | 36 |
A reaction to Fox News and its onscreen "typo" misidentifying McCain's political party. On the Huffintgon Post, there was this comment from someone called Randomizer.
Yeah, man. Drew Pederson is identified as Democrat as is Bin Laden, Kim Il Jong, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. All of them with the (D) underneath their names. Heres some others:Love it!
Satan (D-Hell) Hitler (D-Germany) Stalin (D-USSR) Skeletor (D-Eternia) Megatron (D-Chaar)
Pretty much all Democrats.
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